Not So Fancy Nancy

Juliet and Mr Greenjeans and their top down issues

Before we get to the issues, I'd like to honor the Chevron scarf, which was never properly photographed. Here it is for a formal debut:

I love this scarf and have already worn it many times. Good thing I have it, since none of my sweater projects are done yet.

Good news on Skeppsta though! I've delivered fraternal quadruplets. I'll stop the bad pregnancy metaphors right there because once I saw around my whackin' huge blind spot these babies flew off the needles.

I love this yarn for it's total Noroness. The purple colorway and soft fluffy angora fiber are my favs, though I'm glad the angora is not purple - the gray is luminous.

Now I just need to make four B panels to mirror these A panels, connect the panels, run a neckline and do the sleeves. On 9mm needles this isn't so daunting. Really trying to have this one ready for lounging around over Christmas.

Last post I mentioned Juliet and Mr Greenjeans, that unlikely May/Dec couple. Both are top-down raglan knits, which I've never done before. The idea is great, but there're a lot of stitches on the needles before you can get a picture of the fit, and with it all one piece, ripping is daunting. I love the look though, and still love both of these sweaters, but there are challenges. First, dear Juliet, a downloadable pattern from Zephyr knitted in Rowan Cork:

The pattern is well written; it's clear and pleasantly chatty. I love designers who tell you when decision moments have arrived and give you variations to consider. So, no issues with the pattern. Love the spin and color of the yarn - I've had it stashed for a while and have been looking for a worthy pattern. Worried that it would be too tight across and under the arms, so added extra length to the cap sleeves and now it looks like I'll have to rip back at least a few rows. At this point they're looking just a little too much like a cardigan for the Starship Enterprise. (Don't think too hard about this Risa, Mom and you other SF fans, I'm not sure which space TV series this is making me think of - I'm only getting a vague visual of futuristic shoulder wings.) Anyway, Juliet is back-burnered for a bit because of the short sleeves. I'm planning to wear it over a 3/4 sleeve tee, but still, warmer sweaters are calling right now.

So, that leaves us with Mr Greenjeans. Hummm. What's good? Adore the Berroco Ultra Alpaca. The label says 20/4 in but I got a lovely and comfortable 18/4, so I found this pattern on Knitty.The color is fantastic. Reds are notoriously hard to photograph, so I'll ask you to imagine a richer, deeper, more varied red. Next time I'll search around for a spot where the camera can capture it. The pattern flies along until you get to the cables, and even then it's straightforward and easy to do without a cable needle, though the alpaca gets a little splitty.

My problem at this point is twofold. I think I made the top too big and I wish the bottom was bigger. I need to get better measurements of myself and I really need to wrap my mind around negative ease. I've got a habit of adding 2-4 inches of ease to my measurement (42") and making the corresponding size. Trouble is that I'm not that size overall. I need to start making the 38" or 40" size and doing short rows or some such for the bust if it's going to be too tight. I really don't like gappy fronts on cardis, which has driven my approach so far, but sagging shoulders and droopy backs aren't the goals either. Sandi over at the Interweave blog Knitting Daily has been devoting a lot of time to these issues and I'm starting to see the light, but not soon enough on this project. If you've not subscribed to that blog I'd highly recommend it. Lots of great info and patterns.

The bottom cables were supposed to be knitted with a smaller needle size, but after one repeat I knew that was not the best choice for me/this yarn so I switched back to the larger 8's. The design does have a flyaway element below the single button, but mine would have been more cutaway than flyaway. Still, those cables pull it in a lot and I'm not sure my hips are well served by that. Yeah, there's blocking, but still... I wish now that I'd subbed a lace stitch for the bottom as Maria did. Hers is fabulous! Didn't see her blog until this week or I'd have certainly done so.

For now I'm hoping the sleeves and border will help pull the shoulders together. I really really really don't want to rip. I've got another inch or two on the bottom and I'll start the sleeves. I'll admit that I've put this one aside for a few weeks after making quick work of it in the beginning because I'm frustrated. The Skeppsta is my tonic to worrying about fit.

Final word. Look for me on Ravelry as KnittingNancy. Got my invite a while back, but there was skimpy content on my page for quite a while. Some of you have found me already, but I hadn't put my info here on the blog only to direct you to an empty page. Spent way too many hours this week exploring the site and adding content, so now there's something to see on my notebook page. I'll chime in with all the bloggers who've noted what an amazing time suck that site can be. Wonderful, fantastic, inspiring, but time-sucking. I'm swearing off for a few days so I can actually knit something! For those of you not on Ravelry yet, my projects are here too. There's no secret society going on and the site's owners plan a public launch in the future after they get the kinks worked out and the content built up. It's just a fantastic resource for the fiber community that's fun to use. If you haven't already, you should request a password - then don't blame me when you fall down the rabbit hole.

No diva knitters

Maybe that's why we generally get on so well? Because knitting chews up and spits out divas. Sure, lots of strong willed women out there knitting. Lots of creative, dynamic, driven - nay, obsessive knitters out there. But not truly egotistical. Because anyone who knits for any period of time gets their rear kicked occasionally. We learn to accept our mistakes, own them, and fix them. We curse in our chosen language and at our chosen comfort level, then we rip back, pick up the needles and try again. Excess ego gets left on the floor with the drifting fuzz (if one is ripping yards of Noro). This is also why I think we all deserve to hoot, howl and shout from the rooftops when we get it right. We earn our successes.

If surviving fiber challenges makes one stronger, then I am training for a marathon! I've got three, count em three sweaters in some stage of crisis right now. Before you scroll down craning your necks for a fiber wreck, I should say that I'm very hopeful regarding the final outcome of each of these projects. OK, pretty hopeful. Solstice is approaching, so I keep telling myself this is just the dark before the light, the winter before the spring. But I need to get a move on with fixes, because my short sweater season is upon me.

Case 1:  Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Skeppsta from her Noro Revisited book knitted in Noro Transitions

Got an extreme bargain on this yarn over the summer. I've always wanted to try it, but that $20+ price tag put me off. Now I have 10 balls in a color way I adore and I'm determined to have a new sweater by Christmas. Responsibly swatched, got gauge, then cast on with 8mm needles for a jacket, but after an evening's knitting I felt the striping was too narrow. This was not going to be flattering across the rear. Frog time.

Locked in on Skeppsta. The long panels would allow the colors to build nicely and I really like the almost-cables. Swatched, got gauge and cast on with 9 mm needles. Easy-peasy short-row wedges that really let the colors and fiber changes sing. I'd found my yarn/pattern match. Glanced at the pattern once or twice and I was rolling. Little error in the pattern that I figured out on my own, no problem. Love it.

Hum, but, what's wrong here? Mine doesn't look like the one in the book (middle of photo below). Those are definitely two rows of purl ridges, but I'm somehow I'm only getting one (on right). Look at the pattern again. Very carefully knit another wedge. Nope, one ridge. To make a ridge you've got to either purl on the right side or knit on the wrong and the wedges are constructed in stockinette short rows - no ridges there. Hummm. Examine the pattern and photos again and again. Hum, there's one single-ridge wedge near the bottom of a strip in one photo (not visible here) - that must be proof that originally the wedges had one ridge, but she changed it when knitting without updating the pattern. (please don't make me explain that leap) It's OK I say magnanimously, we all make on the fly fixes that we forget to note. Maybe I have a rouge, unrevised first edition? Yeah, that must be it! Search internet for errata and confirm that little fix I did on my own but no other issues. Even wrote an email to the designer inquiring about revisions (oh, the shame). Look on Ravelry and the handful on there look perfect. So I'll just fix it. Add a stockinette row at the top of each wedge, then an extra ridge row and it looks great(the plain row is required so you finish on the correct side for the next wedge).

This is the time dear reader when you roll your eyes - how can our heroine be such a twit? If this wasn't a true story you would say that your suspension of disbelief was compromised in this absence of logical knitterly behavior. I mean really, how often is the pattern that wrong, especially with photographic evidence of other people successfully completing said pattern? The conspiracy theory of getting the only unrevised copy of the pattern is so pathetic - so desperate!

I finished the strip with the extra 10 rows show (on left). It looked right again the pattern photo, but was worrisomely long.

Now comfortably snuggled down in first class on the denial train, I decided it was because of the larger needle size. Last night I knit yet another strip (thank goodness they're fast) with the 8mm needles, but after cast off it still seemed far too long. It was 10:30 at night and I was three strips into this fiasco when I forced myself to ask the question again ... how could you get a second ridge without adding the rows. DUHHHHHH. The very last row of short rows is straight across all the stitches except for a slipped stitch at the beginning. In that second I knew. I would have bet my house on what I would see when I opened the book and really looked at the pattern. There it was. That little "k" where there had been a "p" in previous rows. The pattern is so easy that after the first two short rows I just glanced at the number of stitches to work before turning, but didn't really read each line. Easy mistake, but I suspect most people would have found their issue a tad sooner. Certainly before three strips! Humbled I am. It's all ripped now and I'll start over tonight. I am determined. I will prevail.

Next time:  Mr Greenjeans and Juliet - the odd couple with top down problems.