Knitty Confessions – #4

Honestly, I never ever would have done this in my early days of knitting. (There’s probably quite a lengthy list of things that would go on that list). But today, I took the sweater that I am knitting and pulled part of it off the needles. Really. I did this to get a more accurate idea of the width.

Turns out, my sweater is wide enough and my gauge is pretty close to the pattern requirements. I was afraid that it was too small which almost never happens to me since I don’t knit too tightly. But all is good.
By the way, in her book, Knitter’s Workshop, , Elizabeth Zimmerman suggests in Lesson One that we measure sweaters this way as we are knitting in order to get a correct fit. It’s a little intimidating to take my knitting off the needles, but I’ve been able to pick up all the stitches without any problem. Of course, I’ve only tried this with the sweaters that are heavy on stockinette stitch. If I were knitting a sweater with a lot of cable or lace stitches, I’d probably wait for a plain row or as plain a row that I could get before I’d take some stitches off the needles. I think that would make it easiest to get the stitches back on.
Do you do anything as an experienced knitter that you never dreamed of doing as a beginner? Share here!