Twisp of Fate

Warning! Knitting lingo-intensive-post ahead.

For several months now I have been working away on this sweater, “Notre Dame de Grace Pullover” by Veronik Avery.  It was originally published in the Summer 2007 Interweave Knits magazine.  I’m using Rowanspun Tweed in a color called Fig, which I have had in the stash for quite a while.

I don’t know why, but it has seemed like a star-crossed project.  First I decided to work the body in the round to the underarm, instead of 2 separate pieces worked flat and then sewn together as specified in the pattern.  I was well along before I took a good hard look at it and realized the fabric was biasing terribly.  I’m not sure if that was because of the stitch pattern (double seed, or moss stitch) or the yarn, which seems to be a bit twisty.  Or both!  Anyway, ripped it all out and started over.  Finished the back and started on the front.  Then I realized I hadn’t read the directions for the selvage stitches correctly, and the pattern was placed so it wasn’t centered in the middle of the front and back.  I had to finish to the underarm to make the side seams work out, but had to futz around with re-positioning the pattern for the center front placket.

But wait – I noticed I had cast on one too few stitches for the left front placket and now the edge of the placket was going to bother me.  So I ripped back to the beginning of the left placket and re-knit it.  Then I finished both sides of the collar and grafted them together in the back as directed, but wasn’t looking forward to sewing it onto the back neckline, which includes live stitches left on a holder.

So then I decided to try a knit-in sleeve cap from the top down, instead of knitting the sleeves separately and then sewing them into the armhole.  I was using Karen Alfke’s directions from her Top-down Set-in-sleeve Pullover, except I planned the pickup of stitches around the armhole to match the sleeve cap shaping in my pattern.  I was marking off the sections with plastic markers when I realized with horror that when I re-knit the left placket I had used my notes for starting at the underarm level and knit the darn thing about  3 inches too long!  I mean, it was bizarre looking – how could I not have noticed it until now?  I had to take the collar apart in the back, rip out the left side of the collar and the whole placket and do it once again.

There was an upside to this turn of events, though.  I realized I could pick up stitches across the side of the back neck and put the live back neck stitches on the same needle, then attach the collar as I went (since I knew from the previous attempt how many rows there would be).  This was a much more satisfactory solution than sewing the darn thing on, so I ripped out the right side of the collar and re-did it as well.

I am happy with the knit-in sleeve cap:

This is worked with “increasing short rows” (isn’t this an oxymoron – that makes them “longer and longer” rows in actual fact).  I decided to use a traditional “wrap and turn” method at the end of each row.  When you reach that point on the next (longer) row you need to hide the wrap as you work past it, and that presented some challenges when working within the double seed pattern, but I think it looks OK.  The sleeve cap came out the exact height it was supposed to be and I am happy with the fit.

So onward!  I may actually finish this sweater in time to wear it before the weather turns warm.

I also finished a little Feather & Fan pattern scarf using Noro Silk Garden Lite, which was started some time last year as a car-knitting project: