8/30 Most Challenging Project

30 Day Knitting Challenge Day 8: What’s your most challenging project?

This is my Fylingdales cardigan; my pattern notes are here on Ravelry. I knit this in 2013 when I was recovering from a concussion, which is why it was so challenging. I did manage to make some modifications to the pattern; I changed the collar, made the cabling section shorter so the sweater has an empire waist, and changed the way the sleeves are supposed to be knit. Success!

But I had to cast on twice, frog back once, and narrowly avoided closing the shoulder seam too early because I misread the pattern. Worst of all, I misread the cable chart to the point that I thought the pattern had a mistake in it, so I created a new cable chart and adjusted the stitch count to accommodate it. Bright side: it’s unique among all the other Fylingdales.

It seemed like every time I had figured something out or fixed something wrong with this sweater, I discovered that I misinterpreted something or entirely missed something. It was both frustrating and disconcerting that my brain wasn’t working as well as it normally does. At least my hands were busy while I was following doctor’s orders not to have too much screen time and not to play roller derby.