Annals of the Beach Dress

I'm mad at my knitting.

For the past month I've been diligently trying to knit this cute little beach cover up dress thing. So diligently in fact, that I've even refrained from casting on other projects! Although I did start learning how to play the guitar -- which, in the grand scheme of things, I suppose could be likened to casting on. Anyway, I didn't like it after the first few rows, I didn't like it after the first ball, and I don't like it now, 3 balls in and half way done. This is new for me. I typically like the things I'm making and I like making them. So here's why I don't like this one:

1. Don't like the yarn. I initially bought this yarn on impulse. I saw the pattern first, of course, and in a momentary lapse of reason, decided that this yarn would be the yarn for the job. It's what I would call a skinny slug. I've worked with slug before, several times actually, and have always been somewhat disappointed with the way it knits up. But for some reason, I keep buying it. I think it's just one of those yarns that manages to look better on the ball than it does as a fabric. (Which, when I get a chance, I actually want to buy another couple balls of this [in a different colorway] and try to weave a scarf with it -- the woven texture might be more interesting than the knit one, and I've never woven before, so it could be fun first project.)

2. Hate the color. It reminds me of the aftermath of a night of hard drinking. Or letting stomach flu have a romp through your system. You get the idea. Now, this wasn't the only colorway at the shop of course. There was a beautiful, pristine summer white, and an equally lovely taupe brown, the color of wet sand. (Uncoincidentally, those were also the recommended colorways in the magazine -- in a different yarn.) But no. I bought the "beach-y" color, and this whole time I wish I'd bought the white one. And I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe, it will look different if I keep knitting. As if 3 skeins in doesn't let me know. I'm threatening to dye it. Black.

3. The swatch lied. Yes, I actually took the time to swatch. Twice. I'm knitting at 26 sts and 36 rows (approximately -- the slug makes it kind of hard to count) instead of the 22 sts and 28 rows the pattern calls for. I'm also knitting one size bigger than usual, so I'm actually ok, circumference-wise. The problem is the row gauge. Since I'm off 2 rows to the inch, my "dress" is now about 7 inches shorter than where it's supposed to be. So now, it's more like a "tent" and edge happens to fall at the widest part of my hip. Awesome.

I'm at the point where I put the skirt on a holder and knit the sleeves, before joining for a round yoke. Inevitably, since the sleeves are knit flat and the rest in round, I'll get a different gauge for them too (what else could go wrong??). As far as I see it, I have 2 options: [1] block the skirt to see if I can even get remotely close to gauge, and [2] when (ok, if - I'll try to be optimistic) that fails, frog the whole thing down and start over on a larger needle. Or [3] accept that I'll be wearing something that could probably fit a 4 year old. Well, it is for the beach -- coverage is only necessary enough.