Driven crazy

Hi everyone,

have you ever started projects that almost drove you
crazy? Did you end up finishing them anyway?

Well, I once knitted a traditional jacket for my dad that
was finally finished after three years.

It just wouldn’t turn out the way I wanted it to, lol
and just when I was almost done, my dad had gained 15 kg.
You can imagine the rest, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Best wishes
Birgit

Oh yes, I know that feeling too. I just finished the vest/jacket for my dad last week.
It took me so long that fashion has changed in the meantime.
Originally, it was supposed to cover the bottom and be nice and long, but now short bomber-style jackets are in.

And I still have a blanket lying around at home. My son really wanted it. By the time I was halfway done, he didn’t want it anymore.
Since my cousin is expecting a baby, I’m turning it into a baby blanket right away. I hope she has a boy, because the colors aren’t exactly girly..... So the whole thing still has a purpose, and I have a reason to make a few changes and finally finish it.

Yes! It was quite a while ago.... I knitted a striped sweater for my son. I mean, I wanted to.... After two rows at the latest, there was a pattern or color change. This was not the kind of thing you could knit on the side. I managed the back and one sleeve, but when I started the front, I just couldn’t be bothered anymore. The sweater was size 140 or so. My son is now 1.90 m tall and wears size 52/54, so I don’t need to give it any more thought. I really haven’t for years, but now I’m actually wondering where that thing and the rest of the yarn are. I don’t think I threw it away, but where in the house it’s hiding? Well....

Best regards
Michaela

Yeah… an amigurumi…
A dragon, with lots of claws, spikes, complicated wings—very time-consuming to sew together…

First I had to crochet all the tiny… bits, which really annoyed me… Then I made one wing piece three times and another one just once…
  When it came time to sew it all together, I tossed it in the corner, and there it lay for over a year...
At some point, I got the urge to keep going. So I did... I sewed everything together...
Until I got to the wings. I painstakingly pieced those together, too.... Until I realized I’d made a mistake—after sewing it all together, I had two right wings and no left wing...
So, time to rip it out... While ripping it out, I accidentally snipped into the wing with the scissors... I would’ve had to make that one completely from scratch. I didn’t have any more yarn, so off to the store I went to buy a skein that was as similar as possible....
From then on, that stupid thing just sat there for months; my motivation was below zero...

During my last move, it ended up in the trash... I’m sure I put well over 50 hours into it (one whole weekend just for sewing it together), but I didn’t care. It was a relief when it was gone :D 

Hi,

Oh yes. A pinwheel jacket for my youngest.

A new color every round.
But somehow the increases never came out right for me. I followed
the pattern exactly, but either I had too many increases or too few.

Man, that thing really did my head in. I did finish it, though ;-) after several weeks,
which unfortunately meant that my daughter had a growth spurt in the meantime and it
no longer fit her.

Man, was I mad.

Best, Heike

Well, I know that feeling too. :-)

Shortly before I stopped knitting years and years ago, I’d started a sweater for myself. All that was left were the sleeves. And for some reason, I just didn’t feel like finishing them.

When I started knitting again last year, I unraveled the sweater and used some of the yarn to knit a little blue baby dress for my granddaughter. And I used the rest to make a summer sweater for myself. That way, at least the yarn served a purpose, and I enjoyed knitting again.

Now, if I don’t like something, I’ll unravel it and start something new. After all, it’s supposed to be fun. 

My last project was a prime example.

I wanted to knit the hat at first.
But after starting over several times and getting nowhere, I ended up crocheting it.

Yes, my oft-mentioned love-hate sweater.
I thought the yarn was sooo cozy and had it in two different colors. I crocheted a jacket from the first color, which, however, took away a lot of the yarn’s “coziness.” So I wanted to knit the sweater. The body turned out great, but then came the nasty sleeves. I tried a total of 7 different variations,
until the armhole was so frayed that nothing worked anymore....

I then unraveled the whole thing and knitted the sleeves directly with it. Then I realized that I didn’t have enough yarn... Luckily, though, I was able to snag two more skeins from the same dye lot from a private seller, because the yarn is no longer available in stores,
The sweater is now finished, I like it, and it fits well.
Happy ending

Oh yeah… my diagonally knitted mittens. I had the idea to knit the entire mitten—including the thumb—in one piece and without any seams. Nothing like that existed anywhere on the entire web yet. Well, eventually I figured out why that was—there are probably frazzled knitters all over the world who had the same or a similar idea ;-)) The sketches and initial thoughts made sense, but then! I also had the ambition to write a clear and easy-to-follow pattern.
After the sixth failed attempt, I tossed the mittens into the corner. Four weeks later, I dug them out again. Started over. Tossed them back into the corner. Took them out again... and so on.
I think that after the twelfth attempt (and the first signs of madness, to tie in with the thread title), I finally had that flash of inspiration which, after many more tries, led to the desired result. I have to admit that I’ve rarely been so relieved to have finished a project. And it works :-)))