2014-05-04 Swatching with Re-Use (Rosarios 4). Knitting stockinet stitch in the round (purling, Portuguese style).

Pre-wash (stitches * rows = 10 cm * 10 cm)
3.25 mm = 22 * 28
3.50 mm = 21 * 30 (something went wrong with this counting. 28 seems more logical)
3.75 mm = 21 * 28
4.00 mm = 20 * 26
4.50 mm = 20 * 25
5.00 mm = 18 * 23
5.50 mm = 18 * 21 - this one I really disliked. They are way too large for this yarn. Although the smaller needles produce a very compact fabric, it feels and looks better than the one produced with the larger needles. Up to 4 mm is ok.

After hand wash, lukewarm water (stitches * rows = 10 cm * 10 cm)
3.25 mm = 20,5 * 32
3.50 mm = 19,5 * 29
3.75 mm = 19,5 * 28
4.00 mm = 19 * 29
4.50 mm = 19 * 25
5.00 mm = 18 * 23

Once again, the swatch gets _wider_ and shorter after washing. I’ll use the 3.25 mm and make the smallest size and will be careful when blocking.

2014-05-19 Body almost done. I’m making it half an inch shorter than the pattern. The decreases were made every 7th row instead of every 8th, except for the last two, the increases were made every 10th row instead of every 11th, except for the first two. Can’t wait to start the collar!

2014-05-21 Body finished! I think there might be a mistake in the indication of the type of decreases in the shoulder shaping: if I’m shaping the right shoulder, then the first decrease on a row I make will be on the inside of the neck, thus it should be a left-leaning decrease, aka ssk. The last decrease of the row should be a k2tog instead of a ssk. I switched it.
For the Collar: As I don’t have a yarn with the same colour and a different yardage (smaller ratio yardage/weight, thus more “bulky”) as the project requires, I’m going to try to go down in the size of the needles, to 2.75 mm. Let’s hope it will work.

2014-05-22 Well, it didn’t work. And because of (another?) typo in the pattern. When starting to describe the collar construction, they mention a 3,25 mm needle. It turns out later in the instructions that they mean a 3,75 mm needle. That’s the one I’ll use, the size of the collar I get turns out right. Of to knit some complicated and great looking cables!

2014-05-23 Sections A and B of the collar ready, they’re really simple. But section C doesn’t make sense. The instructions aren’t symmetrical. I’ll have to contact the designer and others that managed to decode the instructions.

I think I cracked it, I just had to write it out (it’s symmetrical, at least that):

10 Rib-2 Short-2 Rib-1 short-2 Rib-2 Short-2 Rib-1 short-2 Rib-2 Short-2 Rib-1 short-2 Rib-2 Short-2 Rib-1 short-2 Rib-2 Short-10 Rib

2014-05-26 I used lifelines for the first time so I knew where the short rows began/ended, in case I had to go back. Collar almost done: left shoulder finished. I did it a little bit smaller: in “shaping the shoulders”, I did 31 repeats instead of 33, stopping at 7’’ length.

2014-05-27 Started the right shoulder, and maybe, just maybe, the yarn will be enough.

2014-05-28 Collar finished, just need to graft it, before sewing. There’s NO WAY the bottom part of the collar (the “loop”) is going to fit the back piece, it’s way to large, I’ll just have to work around it, sewing it _on_ the back piece, instead of _to_ the backpiece.

2014-05-31 If I had known that there would be this much sewing, weaving in ends and grafting required, I don’t know if I would have done it. So luckely nobody told me and know I have a BEAUTIFUL and well fitting top to wear.