Is Salina Cursed?

I'm not particularly superstitious except when it comes to watching sports but I'm beginning to wonder about poor Salina. I think she's been cursed. Why else would I have had so many problems with this simple, straight forward pattern?

It started out well enough. I finished the back piece quickly and went ahead and blocked it. It grew! It went from about 13 1/2 inches to over 15 (much too long for this type of sweater for me) and expanded out at the bottom, though the chest was still the width I wanted. I tried reblocking, with the same results. The one time I actually washed the swatch to make sure it wouldn't do this, it happens. How? I even reblocked, taking extra special care to scrunch it into shape, and it didn't help. The gauge has relaxed enough that I'll probably have to reknit the whole thing rather than simply taking out a few rows to shorten it.

Resigned to having to re-knit the back, I do the sleeves. Have I mentioned how much I hate sleeves? Thinking of how the back stretched, I make the sleeves a little shorter. Off to blocking, feeling pretty smug about how I'd outsmarted the yarn. Do they grow? Not one bit. I can probably block some extra length into them so I'm not too worried but thinking about it, I knit them as the pattern specified which is probably going to make them appear "too short" rather than "bracelet length" on my short arms and also too wide around the bottom. So there may be some sleeve reknitting (working from the cast on down, more likely).

The front piece started off well enough. I got through the seed stitch on size 2 needles, and it became my carry along knitting project. On evening, I pulled some papers out of my work bag and noticed a coffee stain on them. I frantically reached for my knitting, and there it was, a big coffee stain on it. I'd tossed my travel mug in without it being shut. I put a little detergent on the spot and soaked to no avail. I decided to risk if some stain remover would get it out or leave a spot and fortunately, it did work.

But knowing that getting the front piece done is likely not the end of my knitting has made it almost impossible for me to pick this up. As a result, I haven't been working on anything. It's kind of been stressing me out! Knitting's for relaxation for me, I don't put a lot of goals or deadlines on my knitting but for some reason, this is bugging me.

I decided that it's probably best to put Salina down for a bit. It wouldn't get a lot of wear until the fall anyway. The baby blanket still has a ton more work, and I need to get it done for baby nephew's pending arrival (or within a couple months of said arrival!). It's about time I get back to working on Apricot since it's spring and the perfect time to wear this sweater. I only have half of a front and a sleeve left to knit on it, and finishing looks relatively simple. It would be nice to actually have a finish item. I've finished a whopping 3 projects this year, one of those I did most of LAST year. Sock #2 is coming along great but it's my on the go knitting (that don't share a bag with my travel mug) so they just get a few rows done from time to time.

So that's the plan for now, to actually finish a couple of projects AND preserve my sanity!!! I'll post a pic of the baby blanket soon. It's going to be tough to get a good one because of its size and the lack of blocking. It is absolutely gorgeous though I'm not quite sure how useful it will be (lots of little holes for kiddo to get his fingers stuck in).