Hrafn Knit/Hack Sweater: Sleeve Two: ARGH!

[lwood]

So I was knitting merrily along on Sleeve Two, a broad expanse of handsome stocking stitch (that's "a buncha V's, right?" to the non-knitters, like the outside of a sock) interrupted along the back of the forearm by a twisting overhand knot, made a little pointy on each end to better complement the main body's knot.

By the way, tanyad wanted a WiP photo--which I think are a bit silly, but all the cool knitbloggers are doing it, so, just for her, I have put one here, behind a handy cut. Also, pic taken with Omi the iPhone, so the quality is, simply, craptastic.

--but you can tell the knotwork, and so I am happy. The stuff of which I babbled in the more technical post on these sleeves can be compared to this picture and theoretically make sense. Translating for, um, anyone else, it means: "make a narrow cuff bit, make it poof a bit, then straight to where it would have been had it tapered instead of blousing, then taper normally to shoulder.

However!

At the end of lunch, I noticed...a purl.

In the middle of all that beautiful knit. Here's a closeup, with the mistake highlighted. It's blurry because iPhones are bad cameras:

Sticking its little bar up from the Field of Dreams Knit. This stitch is sticking its tongue at me in sheer ornery defiance!

Actually, this book is the source of the first cabling I ever did, so actually using it to make a sweater instead of just yanking its motifs as inspiration for unwearably-warm-for-California scarves and rune bags that have been amusingly misidentified by drunken heathens (there are stories, oh yes) is an interesting bit of coming 'round again, and that always appeals.

I'm also making this because I am proud of my skill--and, frankly, of all the things I'm good at, this is among the easiest to show off. I will see that thing, know that thing, and then probably not want to wear the sweater. I would just quietly fix the damnthing and not blogrant about it except I have students, and when I see medancer get flummoxed by King Charles Brocade, I figure she could probably benefit from seeing what makes me tear my hair out. So.

The hackers of my flist appreciate this, whether they hack source code, fabric, yarn, cameras, choice mental states, whole organizations of social experimentation, souls, fabric, or whatever. It is for me and I will know, forever and ever amen. I could, perhaps, talk myself out of it if it were, say, to be consigned to my underarm, but sadly NO, it is right there on my upper forearm, and it's pissing me off to look at it.

I figure I have two choices on how to fix this:

One: I can drop the stitch at the top of the column containing the defiant little purl, rip out all stitches above it, turn that purl into a knit, and close the ladder back up, all with the aid of a latch hook or crochet hook. The tension on this may look horrible after, but if I have faith, a wash will even it out and time will deal with the rest. EZ has told me this, and really, she hasn't failed me yet (as disir go, she's doing pretty well). This will be quicker than Choice Two, assuming I can live with how it will look after the reweaving job.

Two: Cuss, snarl, and rip out those few hundred stitches and couple dozen rows, then re-knit.

One supposes that the instructional purpose would be best served by leaving the bad little purl to sit until I have medancer in for a private lesson tomorrow, but I'm not inclined to do that; if I can fix this purl promptly, I can finish the sleeve tonight, and think about uniting sleeves and body.

So, Gentle Readers, a question that involves only aesthetic taste and not technical knowledge: you can see the mirrored knots trailing along the sleeves, but if for some reason you're graphicly disinclined or disabled, there is one sleeve where the cable flows like a column of forward slashes, and one that flows like a column of backslashes. Should I have these sleeves facing each other, thus:

\    /
\    /
\    /
\    /

Or away from each other, thus?

/    \
/    \
/    \
/    \

Thoughts?

-- Lorrie

Comments

[abhasana.livejournal.com]

Second option, away from.

I just learned to cable yesterday so I have a highly qualified opinion.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Well, yay learning to cable!

...your ends are all woven in, now I just have to wash, dry, and get it into the mail...

-- Lorrie

[abhasana.livejournal.com]

My ends are all woven in. If only my life were so tidy.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

I'm only immediately responsible for things I make you out of string. After that...it gets fuzzy.

Yet still full of string. ;)

-- Lorrie

[tanyad.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the photos! :) I think option two would work better in my earlier than a noob knitter opinion.

I feel special, pics just for me! :D

I love the color on the sweater too

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Well, "which way should the slantythings go?" doesn't need a knitterly opinion, just an aesthetic one.

I'm interested in what people are saying in reaction to each way. I'll have someone snap a pic of both sleeves on actual arms when they're done--ascii mockups aren't really the best, here.

Glad you like the color. 8-)

-- Lorrie

[wednesday]

Mmmm. I want to say "away from", but that might depend on whether that works against the contour of the arms upon which they rest.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I foresee returning to this issue once I've re-re-knitted the sleeve (oif).

-- Lorrie

[ivy]

Away from. It just looks niftier.

I completely understand the frustration of one wrong thing STARING at you.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I'll have to give the whole idea of which sleeve is which more thought--my initial inclination is the other way 'round. In a day or two, I can provide a piccie of what they look like as opposed to an ASCII mockup.

THANK you for understanding about the One Wrong Thing!

8-)

-- Lorrie

[shantak.livejournal.com]

Yay for photos! I like the facing away option better. I love the colors.

I have a classmate named Hoofnaal (spelled something like that) which he says means "horseshoe nail". I thought, of course it does. Thought about naalbinding and told him, "Well, I hope you are never lost."

-smk

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Hm--your classmate reminds me of folklore surrounding binding a beau to one by craftwork. For example, if one knitted a garment for a gent, and knitted one of one's hairs into it, that man would surely fall for you--but not if it is a sweater, as knitting a sweater for a man before marrying him means he'll run. There's nothing mentioned about knitting one of your hairs into a sweater for one's intended--perhaps, like the toast strapped to the back of the cat, one would have invented a folklore-propelled perpetual motion machine...

-- Lorrie

[auntie-sirenee.livejournal.com]

I like the first option. Leave it to me to be contrary that way - except that's not why I like it. I like it because it makes me think of energy going UP, constantly renewable, like a natural spring. The second option makes me think of energy going down and away from one, like a sluice or a rain gutter.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

I like the top one too--I'll revisit this when I have two whole sleeves, so's I can actually see it. 8-)

-- Lorrie