Summer gauge

You know how sometimes, when you put a project away for a while, and then return to it later, you can't seem to produce the same gauge any more? Well that's what happened to this today:


You might remember it from way back in April, when I got the front done. I had just started the back piece and then moved on to something else. I picked it up yesterday and knit about 7 inches to the beginning of the gabling. 46 rows, to be exact. And then measured it against the front piece -at least 2 cm (3/4 inches) too long! That was a little too much to deal with, so I ripped it back about half way, and am trying to tighten my gauge a bit.

Now I don't like frogging, and I know nobody does, but if there isn't an obvious mistake, or unless I know I'll never wear the garment, I leave it. (This gauge issue was quite obvious and would have become a problem during piecing the sweater together, so it had to be fixed.) I like neat finishes, and all, but not to the point that I would rip back a bunch for a small error that I know nobody will hardly ever notice. I don't think handmade items need to be factory perfect, I actually prefer the look of handmade (not the sloppy kind of my first hand knit hat on 4th grade, but the more unique, crafty, one-of-a-kind look that only a hand knit garment can have), and it makes me proud. I certainly wear everything I make for myself, and I don't really get knitting "for the closet". So all of this causes me to consider very carefully, whether to rip or not. On one hand, I don't want to create garments that are too ugly to wear, but I also don't want to rip to erase a tiny small error. It's all a balancing act...