speaking of things not working...
I just knit a giant swatch. And by "giant swatch" I mean about a third of a sweater that I have to redo because it isn't going to fit.
Last Friday I started the Equinox Raglan from the latest Knitscene (a magazine I like more and more lately). I have never knit with Silk Garden before, but it's the yarn called for, so I just blithely cast on with my fingers crossed, hoping it would work out okay.
It didn't.
I take full responsibility for this. My gauge is spot-on, actually. The problem is that I cast on for the smallest size, intending to do extra increases for the second-smallest size because I thought the neck looked a little too wide in the pictures. (This sweater is a top-down raglan construction, a technique I have done many times for baby/kid sweaters, but never for myself.) As it happens, the numbers don't quite work out for that plan, and I ended up with the right number of stitches for the sleeves before there were enough in the main body. I kept going under the assumption that the sweater might grow a little with blocking because the yarn has so much silk in it...and I might be right about that, but last night I put the body stitches on waste yarn and pulled it on and I knew. I knew it wasn't going to fit comfortably because the raglans are too short by more than an inch. Now, I could have just frogged back 70% of it and tacked on some extra increases, but I have decided just to start over. (I'm really wishing I hadn't done the sleeves already.)
I have decided I like the wider neckline. The sweater is rather fitted - I'm making the size that is about the same as my very modest bust measurement - and I would wear a tank top or camisole underneath anyway for modesty, so I'm not worried about it slipping down over my shoulders. I think that wide neckline is one reason the armholes are shorter than usual, too, which explains why it was so tight on me even though my gauge was right.
Also, there is the petty detail of my increases. When I started the first time I got my right and left leaning increases mixed up. It was consistent, so I stuck with it, but making them lean the "wrong" way makes the raglan "seam" a little more obvious, and I think I'd like it better the other way, where the increased stitches lean the same way as the rest of the knitting. Here's a picture of how I don't want it:
I was a little bummed that everything didn't go just exactly right from the get-go, but really, I've only lost about 4 evenings' worth of knitting, and it's totally worth the trouble to have a sweater I like. And I'm really going to like this one. Isn't the yarn gorgeous? I'm not usually a fan of self-striping yarns, but there are notable exceptions, and Noro is one of them.
I didn't think about the fact that this sweater is named "Equinox" until now, but wouldn't it be cool if it could be finished for the Spring Equinox this Saturday? Alas, I don't think that's going to happen, since it's Thursday already and I just started over. Anyway, it's supposed to snow all weekend (boo! hiss!), so we'll be back to winter coats and sloppy boots.
Last Friday I started the Equinox Raglan from the latest Knitscene (a magazine I like more and more lately). I have never knit with Silk Garden before, but it's the yarn called for, so I just blithely cast on with my fingers crossed, hoping it would work out okay.
It didn't.
I take full responsibility for this. My gauge is spot-on, actually. The problem is that I cast on for the smallest size, intending to do extra increases for the second-smallest size because I thought the neck looked a little too wide in the pictures. (This sweater is a top-down raglan construction, a technique I have done many times for baby/kid sweaters, but never for myself.) As it happens, the numbers don't quite work out for that plan, and I ended up with the right number of stitches for the sleeves before there were enough in the main body. I kept going under the assumption that the sweater might grow a little with blocking because the yarn has so much silk in it...and I might be right about that, but last night I put the body stitches on waste yarn and pulled it on and I knew. I knew it wasn't going to fit comfortably because the raglans are too short by more than an inch. Now, I could have just frogged back 70% of it and tacked on some extra increases, but I have decided just to start over. (I'm really wishing I hadn't done the sleeves already.)
I have decided I like the wider neckline. The sweater is rather fitted - I'm making the size that is about the same as my very modest bust measurement - and I would wear a tank top or camisole underneath anyway for modesty, so I'm not worried about it slipping down over my shoulders. I think that wide neckline is one reason the armholes are shorter than usual, too, which explains why it was so tight on me even though my gauge was right.
Also, there is the petty detail of my increases. When I started the first time I got my right and left leaning increases mixed up. It was consistent, so I stuck with it, but making them lean the "wrong" way makes the raglan "seam" a little more obvious, and I think I'd like it better the other way, where the increased stitches lean the same way as the rest of the knitting. Here's a picture of how I don't want it:
I was a little bummed that everything didn't go just exactly right from the get-go, but really, I've only lost about 4 evenings' worth of knitting, and it's totally worth the trouble to have a sweater I like. And I'm really going to like this one. Isn't the yarn gorgeous? I'm not usually a fan of self-striping yarns, but there are notable exceptions, and Noro is one of them.
I didn't think about the fact that this sweater is named "Equinox" until now, but wouldn't it be cool if it could be finished for the Spring Equinox this Saturday? Alas, I don't think that's going to happen, since it's Thursday already and I just started over. Anyway, it's supposed to snow all weekend (boo! hiss!), so we'll be back to winter coats and sloppy boots.
Comments
Lovely colors - it will be a great sweater!