Frustrating, but educational.
The sleeveless pullover I'm knitting for my father has undergone a design revision part-way through. I'd swatched the pattern, and not been sure about it, but gone ahead anyway. With each round, it was clearer and clearer that it wasn't working, but I stuck to it in case it got better later on. The yarn doesn't show the intricate little cable-twist up the middle of each rib very clearly, and the result just looks like very uneven, scruffy tension problems. So, I finally pulled it all out back to the welt, and have started knitting again in a plain stocking stitch. At least this goes quicker than 50-odd twist crossings every other round.
Several lessons learned:
If I'm doing an overall pattern, the swatch needs to be bigger than just one or two repeats, otherwise I focus on the details not the overall effect.
If my gut instinct says the yarn isn't working in a particular pattern, I need to listen to it and not hope that it'll magically sort itself out in another inch or two.
Even if the recipient has chosen yarn and design, I still have to decide whether or not it's working - my father doesn't knit!
I'm only grateful I made up my mind round about the waist rather than finishing and then deciding it looked rubbish.
Several lessons learned:
If I'm doing an overall pattern, the swatch needs to be bigger than just one or two repeats, otherwise I focus on the details not the overall effect.
If my gut instinct says the yarn isn't working in a particular pattern, I need to listen to it and not hope that it'll magically sort itself out in another inch or two.
Even if the recipient has chosen yarn and design, I still have to decide whether or not it's working - my father doesn't knit!
I'm only grateful I made up my mind round about the waist rather than finishing and then deciding it looked rubbish.