Cabled Finn Sweater
This sweater is turning into a "please pay attention" project. I am using instructions from Ann Bud's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns which is a very basic knit-in-the-round-bottom-up raglan sleeve sweater. I've made them before - successfully. Following the instructions for my gauge the sleeves went just fine. I cast on the stitches for the main body and made 2 repeats of the same lacy pattern as for the cuffs. So far so good. I finally knuckled down and finalized the pattern for the front, drawing an elaborate diagram (because I am way too lazy to actually write it all out).
You can see my careful design under the knitting (ROFL). I started my first round and began to find some perplexing yarn overs at regularly spaced intervals which I valiantly ignored (read 'knit') until I had nearly completed the first round. It finally began to dawn on me that I had started a third repeat of the lace pattern to stall off figuring out the cabled front panel..... d'oh!! Next question - do I tink it all back???? Nope - not on your Nellie! 200+ stitches AND have to figure out how to undo yarn overs?? Maybe I'll thread a nice satin ribbon through the holes or a braided yarn ... or something.... sigh!
So I contentedly settle in to the front cable pattern. I am liking this yarn in stockingette too so I decided not to pattern the back. I begin to realize that although I am supposedly using the same needle size as I did for the sleeves, the fabric just seems too loose. Out comes the needle gauge. It seems the package said 4.25 mm but they measure out to 4.5mm. True, not a huge difference.... but the story gets worse. Out comes the measuring tape. The gauge is now a whopping 4 stitches per inch instead of 5. (That's a 20% difference for you non-knitters - HUGE!) I measure the diameter of my knitting and gave up at 50". Clearly part of the problem is ME! How can my gauge be so wildly off, going from a sleeve knit-in-the-round to the main body knit-in-the-round???
Take a deep breath. Take several. OK, walk away from the project. Hide in the closet where no one can see you and have a good cry. Now go back and face the situation with renewed energy and resolve.
Rip it all out? No Way! Can't do it. It IS the bottom, after all. If the lace hem is loose it's OK. I have a fat behind anyways - ease is good. I switch to a much smaller circular needle; 3.75mm. I'll knit for about 2 inches and measure again. If my gauge is where it should be and the diameter has shrunk enough, great, if not, I'll have to go smaller. Apparently I knit smaller projects much different than larger ones. Apparently .... hrmmph! I still love this yarn and I still love the cables, so there!
You can see my careful design under the knitting (ROFL). I started my first round and began to find some perplexing yarn overs at regularly spaced intervals which I valiantly ignored (read 'knit') until I had nearly completed the first round. It finally began to dawn on me that I had started a third repeat of the lace pattern to stall off figuring out the cabled front panel..... d'oh!! Next question - do I tink it all back???? Nope - not on your Nellie! 200+ stitches AND have to figure out how to undo yarn overs?? Maybe I'll thread a nice satin ribbon through the holes or a braided yarn ... or something.... sigh!
So I contentedly settle in to the front cable pattern. I am liking this yarn in stockingette too so I decided not to pattern the back. I begin to realize that although I am supposedly using the same needle size as I did for the sleeves, the fabric just seems too loose. Out comes the needle gauge. It seems the package said 4.25 mm but they measure out to 4.5mm. True, not a huge difference.... but the story gets worse. Out comes the measuring tape. The gauge is now a whopping 4 stitches per inch instead of 5. (That's a 20% difference for you non-knitters - HUGE!) I measure the diameter of my knitting and gave up at 50". Clearly part of the problem is ME! How can my gauge be so wildly off, going from a sleeve knit-in-the-round to the main body knit-in-the-round???
Take a deep breath. Take several. OK, walk away from the project. Hide in the closet where no one can see you and have a good cry. Now go back and face the situation with renewed energy and resolve.
Rip it all out? No Way! Can't do it. It IS the bottom, after all. If the lace hem is loose it's OK. I have a fat behind anyways - ease is good. I switch to a much smaller circular needle; 3.75mm. I'll knit for about 2 inches and measure again. If my gauge is where it should be and the diameter has shrunk enough, great, if not, I'll have to go smaller. Apparently I knit smaller projects much different than larger ones. Apparently .... hrmmph! I still love this yarn and I still love the cables, so there!
How about making it an A-line sort of sweater? Get a gauge you like the look of, and if it's still honkin' huge, do a decrease on your "seams" every so many rows down to what you want. I know it would hide my wide arse! and no ripping back, and it would look like that's what you meant to do.
(Did you swatch the sleeves on dpns? I often get different gauge on those than circs.)
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You've got it - I'm making it an A-line! After all, I DO have a waist so it's reasonable to make it come in (we'll just pretend it wasn't mandatory!! LOL!!)
Actually I swatched on circs - so the gauge would have been tighter with DPNs - but not tighter enough for what I ended up with! I guess I just knit (a LOT) looser on large projects .... although I didn't used to ... maybe I'm getting old!! LOL!!!
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Hi Sweetie!
It takes a lot to make me laugh out loud but your last entry was hilarious!! Oh how true it is!! No matter how many mistakes there are there is always something you can make out of it. I have had that problem in years past with my sewing. I would rather cut out a whole new piece than pick out the stitching. Some stuff just never got finished if I had run out of fabric or I would find a complimentary or contrasting fabric to hide the mistakes.
Anyway................... Glad to hear I am not the only one!
Love and Hugs! Cathy
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