What Would Bonne Marie Do?

Warning: Knitting Rant Ahead.

Last night I sat down and installed the zipper into my Ribby Cardi. I tried it on and it looks terrible. The main problem, I think, is that the damn thing turned out too big. It looks boxy and horrible, which is sad, because others have knit cute, form fitted Ribbies that show that they really do have waists. It looks so bad, I don't even want to bother taking a picture.

I know some of the problems...

a) I knit the damn thing too loosely. I had gauge, I really did. I swatched. But since then, I've used the same Peruvian Highland Wool for Mariah, on smaller needles, and the fabric is much nicer/denser/etc. that way. Damn.

b) I must make sure that I have waist shaping in all pattern choices. This one has side ribbing, which I thought would be enough to bring it in in the right places, but no.

c) Perhaps I should do what Grumperina does and knit 36" sweaters for a 39" bust. Okay, so I actually have a 40" bust, but I also have a 32" waist and a short torso, so I need to pay more attention to schematics and such, so I'm not swimming around in a sweater that matches my bust measurement. I knit Ribby at the 38/39" size.

There might be a way to "boss my knitting around" but I'm just plain irritated with it. And I was so disappointed in the thing that I started to doubt my whole obsession/committment to the world of knitting. So far, the things I've finished for myself haven't been too successful. (See problem b above.) I don't want to spend more time knitting -- and more money on yarn -- if I'm not going to be happy with the results. That, or stick to knitting for all of my friends' babies and kiddos.

Now that I've had some time to think about it, I might try altering the sides to cut out excess bulk. But not today.

Grumble over.

Next I'll install the zipper on Mariah, which I know will fit better. See, I solved problems a and b when I was planning and starting Mariah. Wish me luck.