07-05-2016

One afternoon/evening of knitting, and I already have one sleeve done!

My swatch was tall and narrow before blocking, but blocked wider and shorter. The sleeve is longer than the schematic says, but I’m going to trust my blocked swatch and trust that this will work out.

1 sleeve = ~45 gr of yarn, so I’ll get both sleeves out of one skein.

Note to self: must find smooth yarn for seaming.

09-05-2016

Knit another sleeve yesterday, and got started on the right front.

12-05-2016

Finished the right front tonight.

16-05-2016

Blocked the 3 pieces completed so far, over the weekend. They’re all still longer than the pattern calls for -- the widths are exactly on, but there’s clearly something funky with the row gauge.

The front piece should be 24” and is closer to 27”; the sleeves should be 12.5” and are 14”.

That’s at least a consistent ratio of 1:1.12, so I should be able to shift the back waist shaping a predictable amount upwards (so it actually sits at my waist). Will have to work out whether it’s worth condensing the spacing of the decrease/increase rows.

I’ll also likely need to pick up more sts along the neckline, since the row gauge and stitch gauge aren’t matching up as they ought.

Admittedly, it was difficult to count rows effectively on my gauge swatch, due to the slubby, splitty yarn. I had thought I might be a couple of rows off, but thought one or two wouldn’t make a substantial difference when counted over my 7⅝“ swatch. Clearly, I was off more than a couple of rows! Gah.

23-05-2016

The back is finished, and blocking! I used up the ends of the various balls remaining from the fronts/sleeves, so the back included a lot of ends to weave in. I had blocked one front already, so I used that as a template for the other front, and for the height of the back.

25-05-2016

Pinned all the blocked pieces together last night for a first try-on -- and I’m really happy with how it fits. The waist shaping could still have been higher, but it’s close enough; the size is perfect. Hooray!

29-05-2016

The seaming went beautifully -- the embroidery thread was perfect.

Picking up sts for the neck, the pattern recommended 240 sts but when I picked up according to the recommended stitch ratios, I got 310 sts! I am hoping that I’m not slogging away at these long rows only to discover that I’m creating a giant ruffle.

For the collar, I’m doing double garter st rather than straight garter -- the slubby yarn looks so scraggly in single garter (or single rib), so the double garter looks much better.

31-05-2016

I’ve knit 26 rows of double garter on the collar -- that’s nearly 90 grams of yarn, or most of a skein! It seems to be hanging well, not puckering or ruffling, though. Phew!

Now, the bind off… Contemplating applied i-cord, incorporating this technique for spacing it out so that it doesn’t end up too tight. Slow, but it makes such a nice edge, and there’s no wrong side -- important for a collar that can be flipped open or pinned shut.

03-06-2016

Finished binding off last night at knitmob! I just need to weave in the last couple of ends and do a final blocking, then I can wear this baby!

09-06-2016

4.65 skeins = approximately 840 yards. Done!