After 2+ decades of knitting, I am finally going to knit a sweater. A cropped sweater. More of a shrug, really. Mostly sleeves and a neckline.
And though I understand (and, in my youth, have discussed at length with expert knitters) the percentage system for top-down raglans, I am going to save my ADHD / perimenopause / "what day is it,? 2020?" brain from mathing: Hello, Kniterator, I am in you.
And because I am still me, you know I made educated guesses at measurements and phoned in my gauge by basing off a past project with similar yarn -- why yes, I who say to always swatch have not even swatched! What fun is it if there's not the chance it will all go horribly wrong?!?
(To be fair, I want something big and comfy and if all my estimations are incorrect, they should at least be on the side of too large rather than too small.)
Wheee!
Yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease, because I needed something tolerable and cheap.
Needle is a US 9 (5.5mm?)
Pattern was set out row/round by row/round, with tickyboxes, huzzah! None of that "remember to increase extra every 10th row" stuff. Thank you, Kniterator.
And again, because I am me, I did take the entire pattern and redo the layout in InDesign before exporting it to a PDF and making the tickyboxes tickyable. And then printed all 12 pages of it.
AM I PROCRASTINATING STARTING?
Yes. Yes I am. Because this could all go horribly wrong. XD
Oh, yeah, did I mention I really want to wear it next Saturday?
NO PRESSURE, ZABET! lol
Cast on and set up row achieved!
Now I'm just going to watch a quick video on a M1R and M1L to make sure that I am remembering how to do them correctly, and then all I have to do is work through the remaining 11 pages of checklist!
I will have to buy a pair of US 8 circular needles later this week so that I can do the ribbing properly. Or maybe I'll be really cheeky and use the pair of 7s that I already have. Toight ribs, noice!
I have already fucked this up. 😂
I am on Row 10, which is still part of the back-and-forth that is the back of the neck, and I'm a full 10 sts short across the back sts despite having counted my cast-on twice and getting correct counts when placing markers in the setup row.
Great job, Zabet. Maybe this is why you don't knit sweaters.
I can't increase that much to fudge it over the next inc row, so I think I'm going to just have to frog it and start over. 🤬
Might as well check my guage before I do anything drastic...
I was bang-on with my row gauge guestimate, but further off than I expected to be on stitch gauge.
Estimated: 20 sts and 24 rows = 4".
Actual: 17 sts and 24 rows = 4".
Now that I know, is it going to drive me crazy? Knowledge is power, but it's also annoying. Getting an updated pattern will cost another $7. Ugh. Argh.
Time to sleep on it and make a decision in the morning I think.
Decision time!
Row gauge is on point, it's determining all lengths, so I won't worry about stitch gauge. It'll just be more oversized, and I'm ok with that because I always underestimate negative ease.
BUT since I had my tape measure out, I got measurements for sleeve length and lower arm circumference (remember, I'm a big gal), and I decided to tweak pattern. I made sure all my ribbing could be 2x2 rather than 1x1, and shelled out another $7.
PER ASPERA AD ASTRA!
Back to where I was and everything seems to be going smoothly this time.
Tinking back 562 sts. ðŸ˜
Everything is going pretty smoothy now, on round 44 of 88 for the body (before separating out the sleeves).
I am technically missing one stitch, but after a small panic over how/where to add it back in (because I need it to make the math for the 2x2 ribbing work out), I'm just going to slip it in on the first round of ribbing in a pfb.
Binging Hamish Macbeth (90s BBC Scotland Robert Carlisle show) while knitting, and it is W I L D lol
State of the Raglan Shrug
Sleeve 1: missing 2 sts
Back: correct!
Sleeve 2: missing 1 st
Front: missing 1 st
I stopped counting for 10 rounds and this is what it got me, lol.
Sooooooo.... At least I don't have to worry about making up my stitch count for 2x2 ribbing!
On round 69. NOICE!
State of the Raglan Shrug
Sleeve 1: Correct! (where did I find those 2 missing sts from?)
Back: 2 extra sts. (I mean, really???)
Sleeve 2: 1 extra st. (FFS.)
Front: 1 extra st. (AAAAAAAAAAAAUGH.)
I swear to the Gods that I am not doing extra increases! I'm not accidentally making yarn overs and adding sts that way. I'm not splitting the yarn. I'm not even accidentally knitting two sts into each stitch where I've held it double as I join new yarn.
Howwwwww???
Mme Zabet