so there is such a thing as too imperfect

I’ve always considered not being a perfectionist an asset. Perfectionists torture themselves, worrying that when they finish, things will not be just right.

Not me, I can usually live with it. Get it done, accept the charm of the irregular, move on. Whatever it is. Openness to imperfection has been a good thing for a location photographer like me. I like the spontaneity, on-the-spot problem solving, the happy accident.

But..back to knitting. I have some standards. Really. I bumped into them this week.
I returned to a sweater begun last year, an Elsebeth Lavold Viking Knits. I’d uncharacteristically bought yarn I loved, her Silky Wool, before choosing a pattern. When it arrived, the Viking Knits book had been thrown in as a lagniappe. It was to be a sweater for Dave. He chose one with cables and viking knot motifs occurring in various places. Doesn't look too difficult, eh? The pattern plagued me, I kept messing up the motifs.

I finished the back, knowing there were a couple of things wrong and got about 8 “of the front done before I tucked it away. Dave hardly wears sweaters unless its very chilly out, so making him one May-October is a waste of knitting energy. There’d be no woohoo of finishing ad watching the sweateree slip it on and head off into the sunset. Or off to walk the dog or whatever.

Anyway, a few days ago I took it out to admire. I looked over my I-can-live-with-em motif errors. And then I realized. I could. Not. Live with it.

Rationalizing that I’d never planned to make that pattern anyway, and it had lost its fun factor , I spied Funky Glassblowing Guy in the most recent Interweave Knits, in the Saddle Seam Pullover, I somehow want to reward the magazine for using him as a model. Like, as if they’d know. On I cast. I love working on this. Its meant for a heavier yarn but I went to smaller needles and a very (and I mean verrry) sketchy gauge swatch seemed to show me on track.

Its 240 stitches in the round. Sometimes I get to the end of a round and discover I’m off by one. Guess what? I’ve been going back and making it come out - ugh, I can hardly admit it- perfect.

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