The 4 C's

I would take pictures of my Cabled Coat Collar Calamity but the camera is over there and my knitting is on the other side of the room.

Here's the issue. I have 4 balls with which I need to knit the entire collar. Each half is suppose to measure 25". This weekend, I knit one ball and that measured 10 1/2 inches. Seems the 4 balls won't be enough.

What to do?

The pattern calls for the sweater to be knitted on size 9's, but the collar is to be knit on 7's. So I decided to try to knit one ball on 8's and see how that measures up. It might not make a difference, but here's to hoping!