The thing is...

Here is my last FO of this FO string.

This is my 'make a funny pose' face. 

This is the Lettuce Pullover, in Wollmeise lace (the one time I saw the Loopy Ewe update in the first 5 minutes and managed to frantically purchase some).  I have to say...I'm not ecstatic.

There is nothing WRONG with the sweater, I love the color, the fit is good, I can see that it's going to be totally practical.  

But...the thing is...I could have bought it at the Gap, y'know?  Granted, it was my decision to leave off the mini cowl neck, but it didn't really look great on the finished ones in Ravelry, so I decided not to take my chances.  I joined the fronts earlier and "made it work" for a square-ish neckline.

So I just spent an insane amount of hours (I don't think I can adequately express how slowly those sleeves went) making a laceweight sweater (an expensive laceweight sweater), that I could have bought at the Gap for probably 24.99 (or less if I caught it on sale).  

There's the color, that makes it not Gap-ish, and I guess the neckline is fairly unique (I'm not sure that's in a good way) but I think that's it.

I am not criticizing the designer, she turned out a very practical, very wearable pattern...I just didn't think it through.

For the hours I spent on this sweater, I would much rather have a gorgeous piece of lace, completely unduplicatable in the commercial world for many reasons, not the least of which being the time I invested in it...I feel a bit like a traitor saying this, but I would rather have spent my money at the Gap.  I spent more on the YARN than this sweater would have cost me if I had purchased it instead of knitting it.

We'll chalk this up to lessons learned.  I'm not distressed, I like the sweater, it's comfy, it fits, I love the color...I'm just sort of baffled about the whole thing.  I will definitely knit lightweight sweaters in the future...just not plain stockinette sweaters that could be purchased at any big box store.

(I PROMISE to post my progress on the Swirl in my next post, it really just looks like a compressed squiggly circle right now, hopefully it will look more interesting after the upcoming work conference.  I will say that it's totally fun to knit and I'm already thinking about the next one!)

Comments

[Connie]

It is very pretty. I like yours a lot better than the original pattern.

[Jocelyn]

This sweater looks absolutely fabulous on you - the color and the fit are perfect, and I imagine that at laceweight, it's going to be very wearable. But I totally get what you're saying. There are sweaters that are worth the handknitting, and there are sweaters where maybe it's OK to let a machine do the work. That said, don't regret it - I bet you're going to get a TON of use out of this one!

[Barbara-Kay]

First and foremost, it's a great sweater for you.

But I know what you mean about buying it vs knitting. I am in LOVE with the Irish sweaters offered on QVC. They are cablelicious, and knit of merino wool. I most certainly couldn't buy the merino for the purchase price. BUT: everyone knows I knit, and expect to see my in my own work. My guilt in buying one is too heavy a price. le sigh!

[pattie]

well, I love the green sweater. I am a sucker for green, anyway, but it looks lovely on you!

I'm looking forward to seeing the Swirl progress-even if it is lumpy like lace or a circular shawl(I know,it is made just the opposite of a center-out circular shawl)