Saturday 8 February 2014

Oh Marius... Why do you hate me so?

I try to keep my posts positive, yet this will contain a small amount of frustration.
Sometime before Christmas, Mr Pinhouse uttered a request for a traditional Marius sweater.


Marius Eriksen, after whom the sweater is named, sporting reversed colored sweater.
Read some about him here.
Most used color scheme on the right.


Since 1953, this sweater has been in every Norwegians heart, and closet. It is the epitome of the Norwegian spirit and love of the great outdoors. Our majestic snow covered mountains, in which we have skied, our long fjords that has fed us through the generations, our deep forests that provided timber for our homes. An embodiment of this nation that once was a small, poor country of farmers. Farmers, that within themselves carried the pride, skill and will, to build a great nation, that today is one of the worlds richest. (insert National anthem of Norway.)


Photo by Per Eide
source


So you see, I took pride in making this sweater for him. It is said to have been a tradition for girls/young women to knit, and give this to their sweetheart, so I went on to continue this tradition.

I cast on December 23rd, just two days after finishing my cable cardigan. I chose a mens size medium, based on measurements of my "client", knitted a swatch even. I spent the next nine days knitting up the whole body in the round, and cast off at the neck. It then hit me that the sweater looked small. In fact it was too small even for me, and I had to frog the whole thing.

I counted my stitches over 4", did some calculations, and decided I had to knit the XL size from the pattern and went at it again. Mr Pinhouse is a slender dude, and not that much bigger than me, so I figured this would be plenty big on him. The knitting went ok, although a bit lacking in the enthuze-department. I did inevitably, make an error on one of the sleeves, and had to frog half of it and re-knit. Tuesday the 4th of February, I finished the last piece.

I steeked the body, which was utterly terrifying. I've always cast off for arm openings, but granted; it is easier to knit the body in the round the whole way up, and slice it up after. The design is quite boxy, and the sleeves (also knitted in the round) are fairly wide, and set in at a right angle. The shoulder seam and the sleeve is meant to meet up below the shoulder, and it was here I started to get that panicky feeling. I could see that the the arm wasn't particularly wide, and the "point of in-set" was rather close to the body and wasn't going to hang low, off the shoulder. Uh-oh.


Our King Harald V, as a young Crown Prince and student at Oxford in 1960.
Maybe a bit on the big side, but here you can see the sleeves
set in low on the shoulder. (source)


I shamefully handed it to Mr P to try on, and could instantly see it was not fitting. Too small on top. Too tight around the armpit area, and over the back. Blah....I was miffed.
I mean; how on earth could this happen?? I used the recommended yarn, the same needles. I measured and calculated. I knitted it twice. It is a mens XL for Pete's sake!! I have seen extra large men, and believe me; Mr P ain't it... And no way would those men get into my sweater.





So, to wrap this up on a realistic note; Mr P is not getting his patriotic sweater (this week, anyway). Luckily, I can wear it without looking ridiculous, so it is not a total waste. I cannot help but feel like a small failure (even though I totally blame the pattern. Heh!). I really wanted to give him a sweater. I am considering trying again (in secret), but I must say it is not very tempting. If I do, I will not use the sizing in the pattern. I will have to come up with my own measurements and amount of stitches. The pattern repeat for the borders/color-work are easy to adjust and incorporate into whatever size, so if I can only crack the size code, I'll be fine.





Someone suggested I go up a needle size. But then I have no idea just how much bigger it will get, and I will not risk getting it wrong again. Besides, I like how the fabric looks and feels with 3.5mm needles and I fear knitting with size 4mm will make it to loose. I've never felt my knitting was especially tight, but obviously it is supposed to be much looser. The gauge in the pattern says 22 stitches over 4". I've got 26. Go figure.





Did you ever promise to make something for someone, that ended up all wrong? How did it make you feel? And what did you do about it?



18 comments:

  1. The Marius jumper doesn't hate you- it loves you so much it wants you to wear it. You do look fab in it- like a knitwear model for a vintage knitting pattern!

    Many many years ago, when I was young and married, I made an Aran jumper for my husband. It was a Christmas present, so I was knitting it in secret, and I only just finished it in time! But I couldn't measure him, or check how my jumper measured against him, and it turned out to be a bit too big (and he was a big guy already- I must have made it HUGE!). So although he appreciated that it had been made with love, he didn't end up wearing it much.

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    1. I love your view on it Béa :D Why wouldn't the sweater love me? We've spent many hours together.... Sad about your present knit, it really makes you feel abit small, doesn't it? But hey, we put in the effort and that's what is important!

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  2. My sad story I'd the vest I tried to sew for my sweetie so he'd have a place for his pocket watch. I choked on the welt pockets. The remains are still in a bag at the back of the closet, and he sold the pocket watch. My lesson on hubris. The good news is you ended up with a wearable object that looks super cute on you! He ends up with a Nordic Goddess, which is even better than a Nordic sweater.

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    1. Wow, what a compliment :) I am blushing!
      Sad to hear about your vest sewing... But I am sure you can do it! Sometimes we have to mature a bit into harder projects, God knows I have things that I really don't master, but someday I will be good enough! The important thing I think, is to try :) And hey, it is only fabric!

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  3. I'm sorry to hear that this one didn't work for your man. I do love it though. Maybe you can use another pattern with different sizing or other instructions?

    I love this tradition you have to knit this sweater for your sweetheart!

    This spring I will knit a spencer for my guy and I'm a bit anxious about it, becauseI never knitted something for him before except for a scarve.

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  4. Thanks Anthea!
    Well, the pattern is heavily copyrighted, and is only published by one wool/yarn producer.
    However, it is easy to add stitches, and adjust the pattern border.
    But I didn't go that route, seeing I had the pattern. Oh well :) Now I am armed with lots of new experience, and feel I can better tackle it and I am aware of the problem areas.

    It is nerve wracking to knit for someone else, don't know why. Probably because we want to be successful, and don't want to look like asses! Heh!
    I am sure the Spencer will be great, you are such a talented knitter! Go for it ;)

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  5. The amount of detail and work in it is clearly breathtaking.. and knitted up on tiny 3.5mm needles. I can guarantee I would never have finished this - let alone frog it and knit it again! I absolutely love it and it is definitely not a failure. You are right to blame the pattern I think and I echo Anthea's suggestion of trying someone else's pattern interpretation of this traditional sweater. But wear this one with pride!

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  6. Perhaps it was just the universe's way of saying that this sweater was better suited to your half of the closet? (Silver linings and such! ;)) No matter how the size turned out, I think it's a deeply beautiful, classic and very lovely looking sweater. That colour palette is such a great way to wake a dreary, lackluster winter landscape when outdoors in it.

    ♥ Jessica

    *PS* Thank you very much for your great comment on yesterday's Saturday Snapshots posts. I wholeheartedly agree that one rarely gets to connect with elderly people (especially outside of our immediate families) to the same degree any more.

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  7. I love that pattern. I have a Dale of Norway sweater from the 2002 Olympics that is a similar pattern (with a zip at the neck). Yours looks adorable, and boy, do you knit fast! I can't imagine making something like that for my husband...we've been together 25 years, and I don't even want to make him dinner! (Oo, I hope he doesn't follow this blog!)

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    1. Ah yes, the Dale sweaters are awesome, although machine knit :) Well, I guess I'm not the slowest knitter, but sometimes is seems like forever! He he, so your not an avid housewife, eh? Valentines is coming up, so a good opportunity to eek out a meal for the old pal ;)

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  8. You look fab in it, so be glad it was too small for Mr P! Seriously though, it is so maddening when you put so much work into something and it ends up the wrong size, it has happened to me so many times. In fact I am currently in the process of taking off the sleeves of my current project and re-doing them as they have turned out enormous. I am so disappointed and really fed up of looking at it now!

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    1. Oh Gawd, I know that feeling... Keep at it, hun! All the agony will be worth it, when your item is done ;) Good luck to you!

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  9. I am very impressed. It looks great on you. Maybe you can try again when you know the pattern will fit. I am very impressed with your knitting skills.

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    1. Thank you so much Jennifer! I am determined to get this right. The man will have his sweater :D

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  10. You seem to knit very tightly. If you decide to try it again, I'd swap out the specified yarn for a heavier wool, like worsted weight, that will get you a larger gauge. If you're getting 26 st/4" with yarn expected to knit up at 22 st/4", switching to worsted (20 st/4") or aran weight (18 st/4") yarn should get you closer to the correct gauge.

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    1. Weird thing is my knitting isn't especially tight. It slides easily on the needles. I think I will use the same yarn, only add a couple of repeats of the border pattern. My gauge is very consistent, my math however.... I will figure it out ;)

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  11. It's just sublime! Beautiful design, colours, workmanship - and it looks wonderful on you! At least all that amazing work didn't go to waste...
    I've had the opposite issue knitting for my man - 2 of the 3 were WAY too big. And then he went and lost 20kg, so the third, which did fit (just!) has joined the other two at the back of the wardrobe....:(

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    1. Oh dear... It is obviously not supposed to be easy getting gauge. It's like finding the Holy Grail :D

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