It’s a knitting miracle! I actually finished the cocoon cardigan. I am incredibly shocked to find that I love it. It is so cozy. I actually like the color, as it is a neutral that will work with anything.

There’s only one problem. Can you tell what it is?

How about now?

Does it look a little big?

Just a smidge big. I mean, a lot of sweaters go down to your knees, right?

OK, OK, the sweater is more than a little big on me. I accept that. Now to address what happened that led to a sweater that doesn’t fit.

If I were to start the sweater today I would start with a smaller size. Over the course of knitting this sweater I lost 25 pounds, so that accounts for some of the difference in sizing. But only a few inches in width, not height.

The bigger problem is that I never got gauge when I started, but decided to forge ahead because I figured if a baggy sweater was a little baggy it would be ok. I even did the math with the difference in gauge and thought that at most it would grow four inches in width. I never even looked at stitch height, and that (clearly) kicked me in the butt.

So now I have a sweater that is too big for me that I love. This entire time I thought I was making a sweater that would fit that I would hate. It’s a funny world we live in.
I’m going to have one of my best friends try the sweater on the next time she’s over to visit. She’s a few inches taller than me, and I think it would work for her. If she doesn’t want it I am going to be sad, but I’ll pack it up and mail it to someone in my life that I think has the right body shape to fit the sweater who happens to be going through a tough time. By golly, I’m going to find this sweater a home. It just isn’t going to be mine.

Please tell me about your gauge screw ups so I don’t feel alone in my mistakes.