crafting a replacement

Progress continues on the Enormous Striped Thing, although it seems terrifically slow and is terrifically dull to write read about …

So! I’ll tell you about another sweater! It was meant to be a replacement for this ratty old storebought <I>thing</I> I’ve had since the turn of the century — a lightweight acrylic cardigan with allover ribbing that began life as a sweatercoat, was hacked to hip-length sometime after college, and worn constantly, no matter how inappropriate to occasion or weather. (Great sweater.) The sleeves came out at the armscye and the button bands fell off and the sleeves unraveled at the cuff — and every time, I mended it.

… but ten years is a long time. I had to let it go. And at first I wanted to replicate it exactly — but I couldn’t find any laceweight medium-grey acrylic (fancy that), and then I couldn’t find any laceweight ribbed cardigans (I’m shocked, too), and … and finally I went with the second-best option: a sportweight grey wool.

And. So. It was supposed to be straightforward …

 
12/31
swatched. washed. blocked. measured.

1/1
co & worked bottom panel of garter stitch.

1/3
wet-blocked on needles. fits perfectly. feel like god.

1/4 – 1/6
worked modified decreases, adding plain rows between shaping, and adapted remainder of pattern for one-piece knitting — stupidly complicated as pattern does not measure in rows but “stripes”. knit up to shoulder of LH front, per adaptation.
adapted pattern wrong. need to rip back most of shoulder. commenced swearing.

1/7
ripped out shoulder.
measured body. seems right length but these things are deceptive so knit another inch or two.

1/8
reknit LH front.
knit RH front (went much faster than LH front as had already made every possible mistake)

1/9
knit on back almost constantly today (before work, during work, at dinner, before American Sign Language class, etc).

1/10
missed decreases somewhere despite reading the pattern eight zillion times. whatever; it’ll be fine.

1/11
sleeeeeeeves.
co 55 on smaller needles & did garter stitch.
55 clearly too many stitches. blocked on needles (gauge is same in round as flat: when does that ever

happen? ever?) & frogged.

1/12
sleeves. bleh.
co 46. knitting two at a time to simplify my life. would be easier if i had two pairs of needles in the

same size.
knit knit knit knit knit

1/13
sleeves.
knit to elbow with much frogging & reknitting & figuring of increases. unsure about fit. blocked.

terrible. ugh. unknit. reknitting on much bigger terms.

1/14
sleeve all wrong. frogged.
… sewed shoulders poorly. it’s fine. it’s all fine.
… fixed shoulders.

1/15
knit sleeve, picking up from armscye.
ripped out.
knit.
ripped.

1/16
knit sleeve, picking up from armscye in more intelligent manner.
sleeve looks excellent but is too small.
ripped out during ASL class, distracting everyone.

1/17
knit sleeve (picking up from armscye) on larger needles.

1/18-19
went away this weekend, bringing only the sweater to knit. i was concerned I’d finish the sleeves and be without anything to knit. LOLOLOLOL. I knit the sleeve (shoulder to wrist)
ripped it back to mid-shoulder (decreases too severe)
knit it again with more gradual decreases
ripped it out again
knit it again with neater decreases
ripped it out because they were in the wrong place (I’d had a beer and also some champagne by this stage)
& knit some more
ripped out a few rows (ending around mid-forearm)
& put it away until the alcohol wore off.

1/20
FINISHED A SLEEVE. and the choir sings!
there is no way i am embarking on another sleeve yet. picked up a million stitches along front, instead.
never button up my sweaters so will not work buttonholes. who are you kidding here.

1/21 
finished buttonband. bind-off was a … nevermind. i don’t want to talk about it.
wove in ends.
started second sleeve. sort of depressed about it, actually.

1/22
finished second sleeve!!! involved some ripping back as I managed to mess up the garter-stitch cuff (twice).
no matter. wove all the new ends! washed & blocked in sink! laid out to dry on bed upstairs and laid it out very neatly but since the cats love the smell of wet wool as much as I do they will scrunch it all up and then sleep on top.

1/23
added buttons. cut & sewed three buttonholes at the top. (love making buttonholes.)

… and that was that.

Mostly.

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