Switching Gears
When we last visited, I was deep into the wools; however, as mistake as to construction on the Mad Kim, threw an unpleasant kink* in my plans, so I cast on for something new.
Throughout my knitterly life, I have been in search of the perfect top-down vee-neck sweater. I have made dozens of them, but they have never fit quite right, particularly with raglan sleeve construction.
I tried again with Sablier, but two days in, I realized there was a problem with numbers for the size I was making. Assuming the issue was with me, I spent several afternoon hours graphing the increases and decreases, then sat down for a couple of more hours with a good knitting friend (who happens to be an engineer with a degree from MIT), to go over the pattern and my numbers, when we realized, the issue was not with me. So, I chalked the wasted hours on Sablier to a knitting mis-adventure, to be re-written and re-caluculated on another day, even though, the prospect of a non-raglan sleeve, top-down vee-neck was quite enchanting.
For those who are counting, this equals two knitting failures: Mad Kim was all my mistake. Sablier...not so much.
So, back to the stash I dived and came up with several cones of the lovely Habu Tsumugi silk lace in a wine color. Holding two strands together, I swatched from size US 3 needles up to size US 8 needles. I washed the swatch, let it dry, then examined the different fabrics achieved by the different gauges. Armed with that information, I perused my queue and came up with yet another top-down vee-neck with raglan sleeves; however, this one was slightly different, as the pattern appeared to contain some thoughtful shaping without the standard increases every other row until the bust was complete.
Having learned my lesson with Sablier, I spent some time graphing the increases and doing the math to ensure the pattern numbers were correct. They were spot on!
The original pattern called for fingering weight wool; however, my lace weight silk knitted up perfectly to gauge with US 5 needles.
Two days of knitting resulted in this:
*Said unpleasant kink resulted from my managing to seam the collar together, then to the back, and picking up stitches for one sleeve and knitting for a few hours before realizing there was no twist in the collar and no way for it to be worn as pictured. The personal disgust at my own stupidity means that this mass of knitting is sitting in time-out until such time as I manage to scrape up enough care not to drive over it with my car, or burn it, but to actually rip out, pick out, reseam and what-the-hell-else it requires. Likelihood of ever being completed: Zilch. Yeah, I am that pissed off.
Throughout my knitterly life, I have been in search of the perfect top-down vee-neck sweater. I have made dozens of them, but they have never fit quite right, particularly with raglan sleeve construction.
I tried again with Sablier, but two days in, I realized there was a problem with numbers for the size I was making. Assuming the issue was with me, I spent several afternoon hours graphing the increases and decreases, then sat down for a couple of more hours with a good knitting friend (who happens to be an engineer with a degree from MIT), to go over the pattern and my numbers, when we realized, the issue was not with me. So, I chalked the wasted hours on Sablier to a knitting mis-adventure, to be re-written and re-caluculated on another day, even though, the prospect of a non-raglan sleeve, top-down vee-neck was quite enchanting.
For those who are counting, this equals two knitting failures: Mad Kim was all my mistake. Sablier...not so much.
So, back to the stash I dived and came up with several cones of the lovely Habu Tsumugi silk lace in a wine color. Holding two strands together, I swatched from size US 3 needles up to size US 8 needles. I washed the swatch, let it dry, then examined the different fabrics achieved by the different gauges. Armed with that information, I perused my queue and came up with yet another top-down vee-neck with raglan sleeves; however, this one was slightly different, as the pattern appeared to contain some thoughtful shaping without the standard increases every other row until the bust was complete.
Having learned my lesson with Sablier, I spent some time graphing the increases and doing the math to ensure the pattern numbers were correct. They were spot on!
The original pattern called for fingering weight wool; however, my lace weight silk knitted up perfectly to gauge with US 5 needles.
Two days of knitting resulted in this:
Not too bad.
The fit was good on the mannequin and on me; however, I was a bit concerned with how deep the vee was.
As soon as I got the end of my first set of cones and before I added a second pair of cones to knit from, I decided to pick up the stitches and finish out the collar to see if that would draw up the deepness of the vee.
Success!
Although, I have to admit, instead of picking up 61 stitches along each side of the front vee as directed, I only picked up 51, but the vee is much more modest now.
So, I again have miles of stockinette ahead of me, but I am well pleased with how this one is going. It's a good thing, too, for a brief period there, I actually thought I was going to have to give up knitting...it was becoming far too stressful.
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