The Sweater Curse

Brownstone is my first sweater for an adult that is Not Myself. It’s not only Not for Me– it’s for Andrew, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say the sweater curse had come to mind a few times since I started knitting it.

The sweater curse basically states that if you make a sweater for someone before you’re married, the likelihood that you’ll break up is exponentially greater. I think it’s something akin to Murphy’s Law… You spend all this time making something for someone, just watch them walk away with a handful of your Malabrigo stuffed in their suitcase.

I’ve made knitted objects for past boyfriends, but I’ll be completely honest– I never made a man’s sweater until now. I even made a pair of socks for Andrew:

I don’t know that I can blame my non-sweater knitting on a fear of some abstract curse, because I generally think there’s always a logical explanation for that sort of thing. For instance, it would be incredibly hurtful to make a sweater for someone and have them not appreciate it as much as you want. You hand over the newly blocked object and the recipient shrugs his shoulders or just say “thanks” without any sort of genuine feeling…  Of course it would be rude to ask for more praise, so you walk away, kicking yourself and feeling vaguely (or totally!) resentful of the hours you spent on some jerk who ended up breaking your heart.

I also wonder if the giver notices when the curse works, but doesn’t notice when the curse is broken. How many of you have knitted a sweater for someone you actually ended up staying with? Or is it just a matter of time before we’re all drawing up divorce paperwork?

Suddenly, the knitting karma gods pop out of the ceiling: YOU KNEW THE RISKS YOU WERE TAKING WHEN YOU STARTED THAT ARAN FISHERMAN PULLOVER. YOU KNEWWWWWWW.

Curses! Pah!
– YX

(Ooh, of course I’ll remind you to enter to win the yarn— just a few more days!)