On a scale of 1-10...

I'm starting to think that the Amanda sweater is a series of lessons in disguise as a sweater.  Every time I reach a transition or next step, something goes 'wrong' and I have to fix, redo, wait, or rethink.  Even blocking the pieces (while I wait to buy more yarn after running out for the second time) brought a problem.  I had the neck stitches on a stitch holder.  Seems that when you soak, squeeze, roll in a towel, and then unroll a sweater with pieces on holders the stitch holders might come undone.  This then causes all the neck stitches to start to unravel amidst the pile of wet wool.

Yes I started to cry.  My rational brain recognizes that on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a life-changing crisis/event and a 1 being a minor problem, this lies quite close to 1.  My emotional brain looked at the work I've put in to the sweater and the tears followed.  I sent my children out of the room, put my head down, and cried.  For a minute.  Then I started to trouble-shoot.  I got a spare circular needle, put the stitches back on (leaving the unraveled ones to fix when it's dry), and proceeded to block the sweater to measurement.

This lead to an "AHA" moment.  I knit the body and sleeves about 3 inches longer than the size large schematics to account for my height and long arms.  This is why I've run out of yarn.

This sweater has taught me to be patient, to persevere with a deadline even when the knitting isn't so fun, and that in the end the only one who expects perfection is me.