Anecdotal Knitting

.

.
Here is the inside showing the stranded color work.

.
After blocking I found that the sleeves had stretched 2″ from the length that I knit them. I was very careful when handling the wet wool, but I must have pulled the sleeve when I was smoothing it out flat on the towels to dry. I had to perform some surgery to fix the sleeves. I cut into a row, ripped out the stitches, removed 2″ of knitting then grafted the two ends of the sleeves and lightly blocked. The sleeves are the right length again and I’m glad that I fixed this.

.

.
Previously:
The first sleeve is finished. It feels like quite an accomplisment. Fairisle knitting in the round with two circular needles over just these scant few stitches is like mental gymnastics. One is constantly switching needles, weaving in an end, changing color, untangling the yarn and going crazy. I think it was worth it, but I’m ready for some nice plain stockinette in one color knitting while I work on the front and back for change of pace.

.

.
Some progress has been made! The yoke is separated from the sleeves.
.
After separating the sleeves from the front and back I re-read what Barbara Walker has to say about begining the sleeves with casting on an inch or two of stitches at the underarm. I also re-read the I.K. pattern -which I am knitting in reverse order since my version is top down. I combined the two methods of construction and cast on 1″ of stitches at the underarm and knit the remainder of the shaping. I tried it on – which is the point of knitting from the top down. The armholes were too small. I should have cast on 2″ of stitches rather than one. So now the battle of the voices in ones head begins. Rip it apart? or keep going and fix it later? After all that was a days worth of knitting to get to the point of finishing the armhole shaping of the bodice.
.
My point in all of this is to remind myself in future how I feel right now after ripping back and reknitting it correctly. I am proud of myself. I fixed it and there is real potential for this pullover to turn out well. Trying to cobble together some half baked fix or believing it would be better after blocking would not have worked anywhere near as well as just sucking it up and ripping it out and doing it right. I will remember why I fix projects, I will listen to the voice in my head that says – “don’t ignore this!” It is worth it.

.
This is the swatch I made on #5 needles with the new over-dyed Northern Green, it blends better now. With the change it is no longer the brightest color. The previous starts (below) of this project were on #6 needles which I think was a bit big for the Andean Treasure Granite – main color. I’ve now got a gauge for the main color stockinette, ribbing, with contract color and stockinette with two contast colors. Now I am ready to knit this thing from the begining, top down. The gauge is going to be slightly different since I will be knitting in the round, but I check the gauge while I’m knitting and make adjustments as needed.

.

.
I have started this project at least three times, to adjust the colors of the yarn and the size of needles.

.

.

.
This photo shows the original Northern Green and the over-dyed Burlap, Tangelo and Aubergine.