Several of the GPY regulars took a field trip to A Verb for Keeping Warm to see the Brooklyn Tweed trunk show. Several of us tried on this sweater and loved it. Now we are doing a knit along…

Summary

• My gauge: 22 1/2 stitches / 4 inches; 39-40 rows / 4 inches on a US 4 (3.5 mm).

• Used Judy’s Magic Cast On for the provisional cast on. To do this, I had to figure out how to do a short-tailed version as I didn’t want to calculate the amount of yarn tail I needed or come up short. I will blog about this shortly.

• Before joining the hem, weave in C2 ends and any C1 ends that can’t be reached once the hem is turned.

• Knitting the Hem with JMCO: JMCO casts on even. this means that I have 312 stitches on each needle and will not need to add a stitch when joining with K2tog. Follow the pattern for the Hem up until undoing the provisional cast on. Thanks to JMCO there is no need to do this step as the “picked up” stitches are already on the second needle. Move on to the K2tog join row. There are 312 stitches on each needle, so I don’t need to do a M1. Drop the slip knot at the end of the row.

• I added one more round of C1 before the final C2 round. I did this so that all wrap pickups were done in the main color. Why do I care? Its possible that I will need to rip back once the sweater is blocked to increase the sleeve height. Backing out wrap pickups is a sure way to make a mistake. This way, if I need to back out, I’ll back out C2 and continue in C1.

• Used US 5 (3.75 mm) needles for 3 needle bind off and the collar bind off.

• The construction pictures showing the sleeves, show my first attempt, with an increase in the height of the sleeve. This was ripped out for the final version of the sweater.

• Pattern doesn’t address the issue of seaming the underside of the sleeve. I grafted the seam together in a manner similar to the kitchener stitch.

Journal

2014-05-31: We have agreed that it is OK to start the cast on early. I cast on 314 * 2 or 628 stitches across 2 needles with Judy’s Magic Cast On. Using C2 (Old World), I knit 2 rows per our knit-along agreement. The picture that is 4th from the bottom shows my status after the 2 knitted rows.
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I’m actually going to start the sweater since I will not be able to knit on the sweater during our start week. Complete 11 out of the 13 C2 stockinette rows.

2014-06-01: Complete C2, Turn, C1, Join row and initial bias setup.

2014-06-03: Complete first bias section.

2014-06-04: Complete second bias section.

2014-06-05: Complete 4 repeats of third bias section.

2014-06-06: Completed 3 more repeats of third bias section. I’m stopping now and will resume knitting after I return -- 1 week off -- the week we “officially” start.

2014-06-27: Ok, I’m back. I took a little more time away from this sweater. Competed third bias section. Completed my second skein of stormcloud.

2014-06-28: Complete fourth bias section (2+2). Length is 13 1/2” before blocking. I’m going to block because my blocked row gauge is way tighter than the specification. After blocking the length is 12 1/2”. This length works for me although I would prefer about an inch shorter. I’m going to continue with the pattern as written.

2014-07-01: Start right sleeve by casting on 70 using the cable cast on, per pattern directions. I used a US 5 (3.75 mm) needle to help keep my stitches loose. Given the way this cast on is created, the larger needle actually helps a little.

2014-07-02: Completed the 7th 2+2 repeat on right front sleeve. Started my second skein of old world

2014-07-03: Complete 12th 2+2 repeat on right front sleeve. Due to my wacky row gauge (39-40/4”), I knit 3 more repeats or 12 rows. 9 rows make up the difference in the 2+2 row section, but I need to complete the repeat, hence 3 full repeats.

2014-07-04: Complete sleeve shaping. I modified my short rows so there would be 5 stitches between turns, for a total of 14 repeats. Complete shoulder shaping, per pattern, but don’t complete the contrast row. I’ll do this at the end of the sweater, once I know it fits.

2014-07-06: Complete stripe section, front left sleeve.

2014-07-07: Complete sleeve & shoulder shaping, front left sleeve. Final blue row not complete and will be done once I know the sweater fits.

2014-07-09: Complete 12 repeats of 2+2 stripe before running out of Old World. I need to do 3 more repeats to account for my extra-tight row gauge. I also calculated that I will run out of Stormcloud, so I ordered a skein of each. I’ve been told that the colors don’t vary much from lot to lot. In any case, I’ve accounted for this issue by doing both sides of the front first and I’ve stopped in a place that will allow me to continue with a slightly different lot.

2014-07-11: Can you believe it? I got the same lots!! So, I can just keep on knitting! Completed remaining 3 2+2 stripe repeats.

2014-07-12: Complete back short row section. I pinned the sleeves together and tried it on. It looks like it will fit…. We’ll see after blocking. There isn’t a whole lot of knitting left, so I’m going to complete the sweater before blocking to get an accurate read.

2014-07-13: Complete final C2 rows. I added an additional row of C1 before each C2 round. Complete collar. I added 2 rows to the collar to account for my row gauge. Blocking now…

2014-07-14: Sheesh. After calculating the correct number of rows at my gauge to get a 12” arm, my arm is 14”!! Way too big. I’m toying with several ideas to fix the problem at the open seam:

• seam it. this would result in a bulky seam and would result in an odd pucker where the bottom seam meets the sweater body. The advantage is that I could seam across the stitches at an angle, if necessary.
  
• Rip out the cast on edge and sufficient rows to fix the problem. I can then either graft or 3-needle bind off the resulting live stitches. I would then have lots of ends to weave in as well as a small gap to seam up.
  
• Talk to garlicknitter &bearears for any other ideas.

2014-07-19: After talking to several people, I’ve finally decided that ripping back is my best option. this would solve some other problems, like reducing the overall length of the sweater, so that’s what I’m going to do.

2014-07-20: Ripped back to end of sleeve stripe sections. I’m “unblocking” my yarn so I can reuse it. Complete upper back.

2014-07-21: Complete upper right & left sides. Completed sleeve bind off, collar and final bind off -- again!

2014-07-22: Blocked, seamed & ends woven in. Waiting to photograph.

Next Time

• Use Judy’s Magic Cast on for sleeves. I should be able to cast on one side, then just start knitting the arm on the other side. Or, I could 3 needle bind off the resulting stitches. The sweater pattern doesn’t give any directions about seaming the underside of the arms.

First Time

• Short-tailed Judy’s Magic Cast On.

• Turned hem.

Swatches
I’m using the artifact for my swatch. I have plenty to spare and I bought exactly the right amount of the colors for this sweater. Target gauge: 23 stitches / 4”.

Swatch 1: Cast on 50 on US 5.0 (3.75 mm) needles. As knit, I’m on gauge. After blocking I’m at 21 1/2 stitches / 4”.

Swatch 2: Cast on 60 on US 4.0 (3.5 mm) needles. I knit about 10 rows and did a preliminary gauge measurement. My gauge was 25 stitches to 4” as knit. After blocking, I’m at 22 1/2 stitches / 4”.