Double or Nothing

I decided to try and approximate that sweater from The International. To make it easier on myself, I opted for knitting from the top down with raglan sleeves. Now usually, if I am going to be making up something as I go along, I make an exception and do a gauge swatch. In this case, though, I already have the perfect "swatch" since I'm using Cascade EcoWool, which I've used before:


This is the Vine Lace Cardigan I made a couple of years ago. I have worn it a lot, so it's hard to get any more accurate a prediction of how the knitted fabric will look over time. I used my cardigan-swatch to calculate what I'd need to cast on and got started.


I got a good way past the point of dividing for the sleeves. I tried it on and everything fit just as it should. But (and you knew there was a "but" coming, didn't you?) something didn't seem right. My new sweater did not have the same drape as my old one. At first, I rationalized that it was just because it hadn't been blocked yet. But then, I noticed I was also running out of yarn and realized my mistake. Somehow it had stuck in my mind that I held the yarn doubled when making the first sweater, so I was holding it doubled on this one too. That had been my original plan with the Vine Leaf Cardigan, but I changed my mind at the last minute, and the yarn wasn't doubled at all. No wonder I was now using up yarn too fast!

I have the option of just going ahead. It's still knitting at the same gauge, so the size will still be right, but it's just stiffer, and I don't want that. Unfortunately, the only fix is to rip it all out back to nothing and start over again. At least it's on 10-1/2s so it goes fairly fast. It could be much worse!