Rafn Sweater: Second Sleeve: Fixing the Oopsies

[lwood]

If you'll recall from yesterday, there was a blurry picture of two purls standing up in a field of knit, and that just won't fly.

Once I had time to actually inspect the thing, I realized that I had not one, but two, misplaced purls. That actually made more sense. Why?

Well, when cabling, it is generally done that a cable of knitted stitches arises from a field of purl. While it may be that a cable is 1, 3, or 4 stitches across, 2 is the most common of my experience, and anyway it's what all the ones in this book use. Also, in order to ensure that the stitches are all well-defined in their relief from the field of reverse stockinette, it is generally done to make the panel two purl stitches wider than the actual cabling on each side of the panel. I had just tried to do this bordery bit right after I'd just done it.

Anyway, while on the BART train home, I dropped the topmost stitch and c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y laddered down to the bad bit. As I tend to have a crochet hook in my knitting bag to both handle these and knock out the occasional scrunchie, it was pretty easy to fix and, as I could pull as little as possible, did not visibly affect the tension.

When the train was stopped in West Oakland, I could take a picture of the same place, with one of the two misplaced purls fixed, and the other still in place:

--so now some future reader knows what that looks like...

However, a couple hours later, well into the increases/tapering part of the sleeve, I noticed that there were 36 stitches on one side of the cabled panel, and 38 on the other. ALl the increases had been done properly...

...I had, like an idjit, set the cabled panel off by one stitch: it should have, at that point, been 37/12/37, from an original 27/12/27.

Honestly, if this sweater had been for anyone but me, I would have fudged it or left it. 2/5" is between 3/8" and 1/2" (it's nigh exactly 1cm). But it wasn't--and having made such a fuss earlier...

Still, it was only in a moment of pique and frustration that I ran it all the way back to the lifeline at the top of the cuff, the green line you can see in the first sleeve picture. Even I woulda been satisfied to rip it back to the beginning of the increases, before any shaping is done.

*sigh*

Diligent work yesterday and this morning during the commute has recovered the sleeve nearly to where the increases begin, and you'd better believe I've counted everything. Several times.

Nrgh!

In happier news, Sigdrifa (one of my cats) has an appointment for an Assignation this evening, in order to continue the Greyhaven line of kitties, promoting healthy healthy exogamy courtesy of a beau who is not at all related to her (cats have no trouble with, shall we say, Vanic levels of genetic confluence). Once maiasaur and I have locked both cats in dpaxson's library to Have Things Out, it'll be time for a knitting lesson with medancer. Whee!

-- Lorrie

Comments

[ivy]

I am similarly perfectionist-tending; I too probably would have cussed a lot, pulled it all out, and then worked like a demon to get it back in. (But now you can be happy EVERY TIME you look at it and there is NO ERROR. [grin])

How do you keep the stitches and proportion in your head while working? It seems like the sort of thing that would demand more attention than anything else. (My crocheting is all done while I'm doing other things, but it sounds like your knitting would take primacy of attention.)

[lwood.livejournal.com]

But now you can be happy EVERY TIME you look at it and there is NO ERROR.

Exactly! If I were giving it away, I would be better able to cultivate an appropriate detachment. However, this is the item by which I'm going to be judged, I'd better be proud of it.

How do you keep the stitches and proportion in your head while working?

I worked out the math beforehand when it came to "circumference at wrist" and "circumference at underarm". Thus, as I work, the biggest worry is "what happens this row", and I have a small row counter dangling from my work for this. Every odd number, something happens with the cabling. Every other odd number (multiple of 4 + 1), I have to increase one stitch at the beginning and end of the row to coax the taper along--plus whatever happened with the cabling.

In short: I break it down into subroutines:

while ($row * 5 < $sleevelength
    if ( $row / 4 == [0-9]*\.5
        cable($row);
        $row++;
        return; )
        
    elif ( $row / 4 == [0-9]*\.25
        increase();
        cable($row);
        increase(); 
        $row++;
        return; )

    else ( maintain_pattern(); 
        $row++;
        return )

(or something, I'm not talking KnitML (http://www.knitml.com/blog/static.php?page=about-knitml), here)

*grin*

In practice, if my stitch counter was magically disappeared, I would have other instances of that knot to tell me which bits curve which way. I would know whether this was a row in which to increase or not by glancing at the thing that marks the beginning/end of a round. I would know whether or not to cable this row because of the tension: the row after a cable maneuver, the loops lie tensely, and so one oughtn't move the same bit of cablestuff more often than every other row.

It's mindless now--even with all this on top, I can follow a conversation on lightweight to medium weight matters. I do put it down if it needs thought to reply, or I'm really intrigued. Still, even that sleeve was mostly done while watching The A Daily Show and so on.

What will take my whole brainmeats is getting both sleeves and body onto one needle, as that will be new, and the maneuvers of shoulder shaping are not only new, but from EZ--who while brilliant, writes from a very intuitive perspective and expects one to Get It. Contrariwise, I have to reason my way around a thing until it becomes intuitive. When faced with a technique of hers I haven't seen before, I have to sit down and think it out for a good bit until it makes sense--and even then I can make a mistake!

What I'm going to do here, once the second sleeve is done, is to run a few "lifelines"--bits of very fine yarn or thread in a contrasting color through all the loops. That way, if I misunderstand the directions, or fail at their execution, I can yank back to the assembly point with none of the previous work in jeopardy. One around the top of each sleeve, one around the main body, and then join stuff.

Clear as mud? ;)

-- Lorrie

[ivy]

I abstractly understand it, in the same way as I abstractly understand programming, but I am very not convinced that I'd be able to successfully *do* it. Looping breaks my brain.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Hee!

-- Lorrie

[evilwenchesinc.livejournal.com]

As good as you are at knitting, I figured you'd leave it in as a vanity stitch.

This whole sweater gives me hope for my knit, purl, stab tendencies.

Also, KITTENS????? HOORAY!

It has been entirely too long since I last saw a teenytiny kitten. :(

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Heh! No, my vanity's better served by not having vanity stitches...

The kittens are distant potential, just now, and her line has a reputation for small litters, but we'll see what happens...

-- Lorrie