10/19/2015 Could not sleep. Knit a swatch. Super stoked. These yarns held together make a dreamily soft fabric that I look forward to snuggling. Plus, my current favorite sweater (that I am, of course, wearing) has enough holes in it that it may fall off my body by the end of the season.

10/20/2015 So I finished this swatch tonight and it is ridiculously nice. I’m a little worried that maybe I should test out a sz 8 ndl instead of a 7 to get a little drapier fabric. Not sure.

11/24/2015 Have not touched this much since I’ve been working on Mom’s vest. Had the 11 cm of p2k1 ribbing done and ventured into the raglan increasing and cabling this morning at insomniac AM. Spent 3 sleepless hours and felt really pleased with my work… until I just looked up raglan increases and realized that shit’s gonna need frogged because what I did bears no resemblance to what was called for in the Mariah-cannot-read-French-or-allpearledup’s-English-at-this-hour pattern. Fuck. Me.

12/30/2015 This has been one seriously educational experience. Here are knitting notes:

NECK

• c/on 141 sts, sz 7 circ ndls, left extra long tail to go back and single crochet (w/ H hook) the tail into the c/on row after setting up collar
• p2k1 ribbing for 11 cm or 30-ish rows (that of course I am only counting post knitting on the FO)

SET UP BODY/SLEEVES

• starting at back of right raglan where orange yarn is tied off: p1 (so I can see where the heck my increases are going because I have no idea how to properly use a st marker yet), k1 (this is the st I will increase into on increase rows), 8 sts for cable - p2 k4 p2 -, k1 (this is the st I will increase into on increase rows), and finally p1 (mid-project I will watch a YouTube video that has a st marker used and wonder why the fuck it was such an elusive idea to me until now)
• k59 for front designate 8 sts of these 59 for an extra cable - p2 k4 p2 - into a random-ish spot that will land over right breast and that lines up with the p2k1 neckline appropriately
• left raglan: p1, k1, 8 sts for cable - p2 k4 p2 -, k1, p1
• k58 for back

ABANDON PATTERN ENTIRELY AND MAKE SHIT UP FROM HERE ON Note that I am using the single p sts at each sleeve/body junction as a st marker since I did not know how to use a st marker until mid-project but was intuitive enough to know that I needed a visual or I would just pass the junction up each time.

• increase row: kfb into the k sts on either side of my p st markers for a total of 8 st increase per row
• cable row: p2, slip 2 back on cable hook, k2 sts held on cable hook, p2
• sanity row: k all
• repeat (increase, cable, sanity) rows 26 times for a total of 78 rows

SEPARATING SLEEVES FROM BODY

RIGHT SLEEVE

• k right raglan portion to p st marker
• provisionally c/on 8 sts w/ waste yarn (to make armpit connection and cable that I will have run down the side “seam” or where a seam would be if I was into seaming)
• join right sleeve in round on separate set of sz 7 circ ndls total of 93 sts in round is divisible by 3 for the ribbing at end

LEFT SLEEVE

• with a fresh ball of yarn that is not already connected to what you’ve been doing, K left raglan portion between p st markers
• provisionally c/on 8 sts w/ waste yarn
• join left sleeve in round on separate set of sz 7 circ ndls total of 93 sts in round is divisible by 3 for the ribbing at end

BODY

• with another fresh ball of yarn that is not already connected to what you’ve been doing, pick up under right armpit and k front total of 104 sts here: I am not suggesting that this is the correct amount if the above instructions had been followed precisely, only that I now actually have 104 front sts and that this corresponds to my drawing
• replace waste yarn from provisional c/on under left armpit w/ a straight ndl to hold the 8 sts, insert cable - p2 k4 p2 -
• k back total of 120 sts here: again, I am 100% conscious of the fact that this math does not make sense with the increase instructions I have written out and that I tried to arbitrarily follow, but I am 100% confident that this is how many sts are physically literally making the back of this sweater in the real world
• replace waste yarn from provisional c/on under right armpit w/ a straight ndl to hold the 8 sts, insert cable - p2 k4 p2 -
• join body in round

I’m now working with 3 separate circ ndls and sets of yarn.

EACH SLEEVE

• repeat (2 sanity rows, 1 cable row) 15 times
• p2k1 ribbing for 5 cm or 12-ish rows note that the first time I tried this, I attempted to k2p1 rib the sleeves and found the line up w/ the 8 st cable to be shitty and unacceptable no matter where I started in the repeat - frogged a few times, ultimately went w/ p2k1 and like it
• k row
• c/off kwise

BODY

• repeat (2 sanity rows, 1 cable row) 10 times
• on last row of above 10 repeats, k2tog before left cable“seam” and kfb after left cable “seam” so cables will fall correctly of the 3 st repeat p2k1 bind off
• also on last row of above 10 repeats, pm (because by now I know how to do that - huzzah!) at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 sts in from each edge of cable “seams” for a total of 20 markers
• sanity row
• insert short row: k front from right armpit cable “seam” to last marker before left armpit cable “seam”, remove marker, yo, slip kwise, turn work, slip kwise, p to last marker before right armpit cable “seam”, remove marker, turn, loosely k remainder of front, k through left armpit cable “seam”, k back from left armpit cable “seam” to last marker before right armpit cable “seam”, remove marker, yo, slip kwise, turn work, slip kwise, p to last marker before left armpit cable “seam”, remove marker, turn, loosely k remainder of back, through right armpit cable “seam” to complete row

It is important to note on my short rows that I wrapped and turned when going from k (rs) to p (ws) and just turned and kept shit super loose when going from p (ws) to k (rs). Why, you ask? I tried the short rows wrapping and turning both k (rs) to p (ws) and p (ws) to k (rs). It turns out that the bar going k (rs) to p (ws) is almost unnoticeable and the fabric looks like it is supposed to. When I wrap and turn going from p (ws) to k (rs) however, my fabric puckers and makes a gross hole. Clearly, I need to practice this method and there is a way for it to work, but I only noticed the grossness after way more rows than I was willing to frog, so I tried ripping just the st down to the offending wrapped one, removed the wrap, and picked the sts back up. This leaves a hole, yes, but no pucker (thank you, Sweet Black Baby Jesus). In this educational sweater, I am willing to live with the hole. I’ll practice and come up with a more elegant solution the next time around.

• cable row
• repeat (sanity, short, cable) rows for a total of 5 times At this point, all of my markers are gone, my armpit cable “seams” each have 15 cable twists (same as sleeves), and my front cable (which I am not going to try to write out; I just figured the cabling out with the short rows) has 20 cable twists.
• p2k1 ribbing for 5 cm or 12-ish rows
• k row
• c/off kwise

12/31/2015 Final NTS:

• Eve told me when I was at the point of separating the arms and body onto 3 sets of ndls that a traditional raglan increase is every other row - not the every third row that I did. Finished, with this on my body, I understand why the steeper increase makes sense. The connection under the pits on this sweater is in the middle of the upper part of my arm, so raising my arms dramatically raises the belly of the sweater.
• Gram balked when I told her that I cabled every third row. Apparently, a traditional cable is every fourth row. This cable is much tighter than the cables I am used to seeing, but I like it and it was my virginal attempt.
• The Daphne yarn is pretty nice. The alpaca, while not splitty and molting grossness like the Sajama alpaca I used on Ma’s sweater, has itchy guard hairs. Boo.

1/20/2016 This sweater has been done and on my body for the last 3 weeks. I have a few more notes…

• Swatch gauge is 19.5 sts and 29 rows to 10 sq cm.
• Washed and worn gauge is 16.5 sts and 33 rows.
• After the first wash, I thought the alpaca guard hairs were itchy. After wearing it, I’m not bothered by them. Huh.