It Only Took Three Years...

I've finally finished my Jane Richmond Gemini top and it only took me three years to get to this point.

I first cast on Gemini for the 2013 Tops Tanks and Tees Knit Along on Ravelry.  I even finished it during that KAL.  Unfortunately it was a disaster fit wise and I completely ripped it out the very next day.   I was ever so proud of myself that I not only ripped it out, but I cast on immediately again in a size smaller.  But then I made a mistake and ripped out again and restarted, then ripped and restarted and then eventually made a mistake, got confused where I even was in the pattern and tossed it into the deep dark recesses of my closet where it sat for a few years until this spring when I was trying to decide what to knit for the 2016 TTTKAL and found this languishing in a bag.

It wasn't even on needles any more, but the lace panel and a few rounds below were done, so I decided to put it back on the needles and figure it out once and for all.  Things were going swimmingly... or so I'd thought.  Until a few inches from the bottom I tried it on and realize that my gauge had gone to hell again and my top was getting larger and larger.  The bust fit well, but below that was a mess.

I just about threw in the towel then, but after investing so much effort already, I decided it had precisely one last chance.  I ripped back to almost the armholes and restarted again, immediately working a set of decreases along each side.  Then knit two more inches and worked another set of decreases.  Then noticed way back where I'd joined a ball of yarn I'd somehow twisted the stitch, dropped the one below it and goodness knows what else.  It was the ugliest stitch imaginable and stuck out like a sore thumb.  To give you an idea of how bad it was, my husband even noticed it from a distance and gently suggested something should be done about it.  He was right, so I painstakingly dropped down approximately 4" of knitting for two stitches and reworked them back up, which was no easy feat given that it was a stitch at the start of a new ball of yarn, but so worth it.  After that was done, I kept knitting, keeping close watch to make sure I didn't let my gauge go rogue on me again, and finally did a couple of sets of increases for the hips and finished up.

This was the original gemini in it's droopy tent like capacity:

Re-worked and much, much better :

I swear I thought I would never ever see the end of the tunnel with this one and I didn't finish it in time for the due date of the TTTKAL, which was a bit disappointing - I was two days late, but I am really glad that I did slog away at it and didn't give up.  It's exactly the fit was I was envisioning back in 2013 when I first set out to knit it.   Sometimes it pays to be a "responsible knitter" and re-work things until you get them the way you want them, even if it feels like an impossible task at times. To keep going and have something you'll wear, rather than something that languishes in a dark corner of the closet never to see the light of day again.  I suppose like anything in life.  Sometimes it's just good to persevere.