Trying on an In-Progress Sweater is Like Standing on the Scale.

Knitting can be such a crap shoot. Sure, you can knit a little doll or maybe a dog blanket on the fly and it turns out great but when it comes to knitting--for yourself, especially--you might find, after you do try it on, it is time for a cocktail.

Or, in my case, fewer cocktails. I am usually a size six, sometimes a four and sometimes a two (due to vanity sizing at the likes of The Gap, et al, which is another subject altogether and in my mind they need to banish it, big time, sheesh).

So, here we go: I'm knitting along with a class I'm teaching. It's all about knitting round-yoke top-down sweaters. We're doing the math and trying on as we go. Thing is, I let my personal duct tape dummy go a few months ago during a closet clean-out and decided to use my trusty dress form (dress size six) that I use when I design for books/magazines. This usually works well for me because I know that whatever sample I'm making needs to be a little snug on the dress form. But for me? Uh. . . a little looser . . . in the middle section.

But as of today, I have decided that I've let myself go. I guess I figured that as long as my upper arms, bust and thighs haven't changed that I'm all good.

I'm not.

It's my middle.

I'm owning up:

Just like I told my sister when she first became pregnant and had morning sickness, "No matter how sick you feel, the good news is, being pregnant means that for the first time in your life you'll relax your abs."

My problem is, it has been nine years since Girlfriend was born and I'm still relaxing them.

(I don't like how I finished the bottom, so I'm ripping and re-knitting. Plus, I'll add a couple inches. My belly hiked that sucker up way higher than I thought it would. This is why trying an in-progress sweater onto your own body and not your perfectly shaped dress form is worth the extra five minutes of your time.)

BTW: This is Cascade Eco. I love that it has taken one skein so far. I'll use the second one (just a tiny bit of it) to finish the sleeves. I think they'll be short.