Exit Pumpkin Ale, Welcome Sprig!
Jan. 15th, 2021 07:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzDespite Anemoona's warning that January and February aren't the best moments to make big life decisions, I still felt unmotivated to continue with the Pumkin Ale. I counted the number of repeats I had already tackled (6) and the number of repeats I could see on the regular-sized human in the pattern booklet (16) and then rounded up for my extra-tall body. I groaned when I realised I may need to add another 14 repeats or more to get a back panel that would fit me, almost as much as a full back panel for a regular-sized human!
As I was browsing Ravelry for an alternative pattern for this yarn, I realised I was actually looking forward to Sprig and comparing every pattern that drew my eye to the Sprig pullover. Apparently, I had already made up my mind. I just didn't know it yet, but I was going to knit Sprig instead.
Another factor in this decision was one I hadn't discussed yet: a cardigan goes over everything but it has to coordinate with any shirt you would wear underneath. This particular colour of blue is quite light and might not actually work with all or even most of my shirts. A darker colour is much easier to match, and if I have to be completely honest, I still have my heart set on a dark green cardigan instead. One day, maybe?
Sprig is a pullover and would not need to match with anything, it could be a standalone piece in any colour I want. The only thing I would have to take into account is the t-shirt I wear under it doesn't show too much and take away from the neckline. And the neckline yoke with some small twisted stitches and vine design would look smashing in a lighter colour as well.
And oh yes, did I mention my head was already quite completely 100% there? I just needed to frog and free up my yarn.
For a moment, I considered saving what I had knitted. What if I was sorry and wanted to continue with Pumpkin Ale after all? It was a brief moment's doubt but all in all I was still not sure the back panel I had was going to be wide enough over the hips. I'd been struggling with the cables as well, and would rather do the cables at half a needle size larger. And so it was decided: frog!
After a bit of finagling with the printer (it only prints one-sided, and I want two-sided) and the obvious gauge-checking I could dive straight in. The pattern states 20 sts / 28 rows per 10 cm, but I am at 17 sts / 26 rows. That means I can knit two sizes smaller to get a finished chest circumference of 119 cm (last I checked my bust was 116). It being stockinette from the neck yoke down, I could even fudge it a bit and go between sizes if I wanted to.
And the pattern starts out really interesting as well. The a-symmetrical yoke at the top of the sweater is NOT the first thing you cast on, but instead the cast-on edge starts on one shoulder right below the yoke. You knit back and forth doing short rows and additional stitches being cast on each round, until you can finally join the work in the round! It was so interesting to wrap my head around this, and I was a little afraid all my backward loop cast-on stitches would be loose, but it pulled together nicely. I can't recommend the increases right after a backward loop, but it worked out fine in the end.
Right now, I'm just two rows after joining in the round, and I may do another set or two just to stabilise the fabric enough so I can start on the yoke right above this:
Cast-on edge where the yoke will be, is facing out. The body of the pullover is on the inside.
The yoke is asymmetrical and is knit on the side, after picking up stitches from the cast-on edge. (I've already been pondering if I could design a sweater with a similar yoke design but with the narrow points of the yoke meeting at center-front, like a Peter Pan collar). I'm having so much fun with this already! I have a ton of yarn left, so I can just continue with the stockinette and raglan increases if I have had a bad day, or dive face-first in the interesting chart for the yoke if I need a challenge. It's a shame I will have to switch out my needle tips in order to do it that way, but I can manage.
I was also reminded to add a few short rows to make sure the back neck creeps up a bit. In pattern drafting the difference between front and back is 2 centimeters, and I haven't found if this pattern allows for that difference as well. Ideally, I'd add a few short rows on the back neck before joining under the arm, so I can check with the Boden pattern how they did it there, because that fits me really well and it's a similar weight yarn and the same gauge.
Next up: get a longer cable and knit a repeat or two on the raglan side to stabilise the edge, and then pick up those yoke stitches at the top edge. Once the yoke is in, I can fit! Seems like a fun thing to do this weekend.
As I was browsing Ravelry for an alternative pattern for this yarn, I realised I was actually looking forward to Sprig and comparing every pattern that drew my eye to the Sprig pullover. Apparently, I had already made up my mind. I just didn't know it yet, but I was going to knit Sprig instead.
Another factor in this decision was one I hadn't discussed yet: a cardigan goes over everything but it has to coordinate with any shirt you would wear underneath. This particular colour of blue is quite light and might not actually work with all or even most of my shirts. A darker colour is much easier to match, and if I have to be completely honest, I still have my heart set on a dark green cardigan instead. One day, maybe?
Sprig is a pullover and would not need to match with anything, it could be a standalone piece in any colour I want. The only thing I would have to take into account is the t-shirt I wear under it doesn't show too much and take away from the neckline. And the neckline yoke with some small twisted stitches and vine design would look smashing in a lighter colour as well.
And oh yes, did I mention my head was already quite completely 100% there? I just needed to frog and free up my yarn.
For a moment, I considered saving what I had knitted. What if I was sorry and wanted to continue with Pumpkin Ale after all? It was a brief moment's doubt but all in all I was still not sure the back panel I had was going to be wide enough over the hips. I'd been struggling with the cables as well, and would rather do the cables at half a needle size larger. And so it was decided: frog!
After a bit of finagling with the printer (it only prints one-sided, and I want two-sided) and the obvious gauge-checking I could dive straight in. The pattern states 20 sts / 28 rows per 10 cm, but I am at 17 sts / 26 rows. That means I can knit two sizes smaller to get a finished chest circumference of 119 cm (last I checked my bust was 116). It being stockinette from the neck yoke down, I could even fudge it a bit and go between sizes if I wanted to.
And the pattern starts out really interesting as well. The a-symmetrical yoke at the top of the sweater is NOT the first thing you cast on, but instead the cast-on edge starts on one shoulder right below the yoke. You knit back and forth doing short rows and additional stitches being cast on each round, until you can finally join the work in the round! It was so interesting to wrap my head around this, and I was a little afraid all my backward loop cast-on stitches would be loose, but it pulled together nicely. I can't recommend the increases right after a backward loop, but it worked out fine in the end.
Right now, I'm just two rows after joining in the round, and I may do another set or two just to stabilise the fabric enough so I can start on the yoke right above this:
Cast-on edge where the yoke will be, is facing out. The body of the pullover is on the inside.
The yoke is asymmetrical and is knit on the side, after picking up stitches from the cast-on edge. (I've already been pondering if I could design a sweater with a similar yoke design but with the narrow points of the yoke meeting at center-front, like a Peter Pan collar). I'm having so much fun with this already! I have a ton of yarn left, so I can just continue with the stockinette and raglan increases if I have had a bad day, or dive face-first in the interesting chart for the yoke if I need a challenge. It's a shame I will have to switch out my needle tips in order to do it that way, but I can manage.
I was also reminded to add a few short rows to make sure the back neck creeps up a bit. In pattern drafting the difference between front and back is 2 centimeters, and I haven't found if this pattern allows for that difference as well. Ideally, I'd add a few short rows on the back neck before joining under the arm, so I can check with the Boden pattern how they did it there, because that fits me really well and it's a similar weight yarn and the same gauge.
Next up: get a longer cable and knit a repeat or two on the raglan side to stabilise the edge, and then pick up those yoke stitches at the top edge. Once the yoke is in, I can fit! Seems like a fun thing to do this weekend.
