2/23 - The yoke is finished and the neck bound off. The picture shows the back: there is a 4-stitch wide steek in the front that will be cut when the sweater part is finished. Yay! I like the colorwork pattern, now I just have to figure out how to divide the stitches and knit downward.

I am modifying this free Drops pattern. The yoke from the chest up will be my Ravellenics personal challenge, because I don’t think I can do a whole sweater of this gauge in 17 days. I used Lucy Neatby’s provisional cast-on, cast on 321 stitches, and began knitting the yoke upwards from there. The plan is to finish the yoke during the games, and then pick up the provisional stitches and work downwards from there. I am working in the round, with 4 stitches for the steek. I think I have seen this referenced somewhere on Ravelry, but I don’t have any specific directions.

I’m using the colors in the swatch on the right after rejecting the first swatch as “too 70’s.” All yarns are from unravelled thrifted sweaters, except the white which is my homespun.
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3/6 - the Ravellenics are over, and now I have picked up the provisional cast-on. I am dividing the stitches as follows (using a bit of math based on EPS and general instructions from the “yoke-u-lator” I find the Drops pattern is written in avery confusing way, assuming you will knit straight rather than circular, and I’m not sure the math adds up. So here’s what I have (I will update any changes I have to make in a few days):

321 stitches at base of yoke. (4 of these are for the steek at center front). On either side of steek markers, put 47 sts. on a long string for the front left and right. (94 total for front stitches) Put 64 stitches on a different string for each sleeve. Put 95 stitches on a long string for the back. Try on for general fit and adjust as necessary. To knit the A1 speckled pattern, you need a multiple of 6 + 1. {After trying it on, I need to lengthen the yoke by about 1” more before splitting for the arms. I adjusted the 321 stitch count to 323, making 2 stitches in the sleeve sections (for 65 stitches). This should allow me to knit the speckled pattern on the large yoke portion for a few rows before dividing.} To get to a total count of 211 body stitches (not including the steek) I will need to cast on 11 stitches for each underarm. So, start knitting in steek, knit left front (47 stitches), cast on 11, continue knitting across back, cast on another 11, continue with 47 right front stitches, then steek stitches. Total count 215 including the 4 steek stitches.

Arms will wait until the body is knit, but I plan on using the speckle A1 pattern on them as well. I will probably need to adjust the count, because with 64 stitches plus 11 picked up for the underarms, that doesn’t come out exactly. But I will figure it out. It has to be easier than following the Drops pattern as written.
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5/4/15 - After a long hibernation and only being worked on one evening a week, I finished the sleeves and sewed and cut the steek. I hope I can get it finished soon.