• Note on the yarn… Make sure to add extra length to the sleeves and body! After 2/3 years of wear and washings the sleeves and hem are considerably shorter… I should have added an extra 3 to 4 inches! The fabric is still really nice and hardly a pill but just a tich denser from shrinkage.

Darrowby

Now that I am almost finished “my version” of this gorgeous sweater, I totally “get” where the designer is going with hers. She has been helpful with peoples issues on her KAL but I feel like they are all guinea pigs and I am glad I didn’t try to follow the pattern! She should have had this sweater properly test knit before publishing and not just one size knit by a friend of hers!

There are still problems, imho, with the pattern wording and the schematics, ie, smallest size shows 32” wide on the schematic and she states 34” wide at the beginning..so is it suppose to be 32” or 34”? Or, on the schematic line with the button band, it shows each side being 8” plus the 3” for the button band = 19” x’s 2 = 38” Or… is the front 3” larger than the back because of the button band? Your guess is as good as mine? I asked about this issue and never got a reply!

My notes

There is far to much errata for this pattern already so I am going to try to knit this in a more normal contiguous manner. (Or give it a college try:-) I don’t know why I am even linking to this pattern but I like the style/feel of the sweater and am improvising a similar simpler version and using her small cable chart, so what the heck! Even though the designer seems to be on top of fixing the errata and is being very helpful to folks trying the actual pattern, I will just use her wonderful design as inspiration:-)

What am I doing?:
Provisionally CO 18 ( 16 + 2 edge stitches) stitches and work small chart 4 times + one more row 1. (I just chose one chart for the whole design and I’ll just use the one for the whole sweater.)

Keeping the working stitches on the needle picked up 3 stitches for every 4 rows, purlwise, for the whole length. undid the CO and picked up those as well.

18 front 16 sleeve, 33 back, 16 sleeve , 18 front. (101)
cable +…..cable……..st.st +………cable……..cable + (+ is st.st. with the increases.)

Work 17 stitches in pattern (WS row 2) pf&b of next stitch, yo, pm, work 16 stitch cable chart, pm, kf&b and purl 31 stitches, pf&b, pm, 16 cable chart, pm, yo, kf&b, chart 17. (Purled the yo through back loop on the return row.) (After the first 2 rows the yo increases became a Kf&b.)

Worked a complete cable pattern (22 rows) increasing 1 stitch on either side of each cable repeat every right side row. (6 increases per RSR) I also worked 10 rows of increases on either side of the shoulder, 5 stitches in from back markers. (So 8 stitches increased on those 5 rows)

Wow, this all sounds very confusing! I hope it makes sense but, whatever… truly it only has to make sense to me!

When splitting the sleeves off I added 2 stitches to each side of the cable. 20 stitches for the sleeves and am increasing every row for 1/2 cable repeat. Then every rsr for a while then every 4th row to the underarm.

Because of the cable on the fronts the back is short stitches so I did 3 rows of 10 increases spaced 6 rows apart on the back. (+30 stitches) I did them like you would on V-D but used a M1 increase. Now the fronts and backs are balanced! This should make for a well fitting shoulder. I really dislike sweaters that are too large in the neck/shoulder area and one reason I really like the fit of V-D!

Dec. 25th

I am at the point where I am going to be splitting off the sleeves. My plan is to CO 16 stitches under the arm and do 1/2 a dozen back short rows.

Jan. 1st

I am about 10 inches into the body of the sweater and I love the way it’s looking! I’ve used 1/2 the yarn, I have 4 cones, so I have tons to make the sleeves, button band, get the length that I want and pockets:-)

Jan 13th

I have completed the body and left it on waste yarn as I haven’t decided on how to do the trim. I have both sleeves on the go and it’s all looking great! When I finish the sleeves, I will know how much yarn I have to work with to finish off the hem, button band and pockets. (I really don’t want to be doing all that ribbing on the button band…twisted rib to boot.. I don’t really think so… maybe I can find a nice slip stitch pattern? I do plan buttons so something a little firmer might be better?)

Washed the sweater just to make sure everything is going as planned! I am pleased as punch:-)

#hems
I left off the herringbone edging on both the sleeves and the body. I prefer them plain.

Jan. 19th

Finished everything but the button band and pockets. Sleeves are hemmed, hem is hemmed, all ends sewn in… I must do the button band first, worried about a yarn shortage, but I am waiting to find buttons. I have 3 buttons that I could use but they are not quite right… Have ordered 3 more and they might work but I think 5 would be better. Becky Sue is making me custom buttons but it will be a surprise so not sure yet if they will go or not?? So the band will have to wait till I get the buttons…Or I might just go with 3? (Yes, I have button anxiety now! LOL)

The button pictures are my current choices of 3’s… 3 might be enough… hmmmmm….

Jan. 20th

Almost 1/2 through the button band and no way am going to have enough for the pockets. BUT I remembered that I do have a 3/16 a/m in the same colour, or almost… might be a slightly different colour and seems a little softer so I’ll use that for the pockets:-)

#Button band

I picked up the stitches all the way around the neck line…then cast on for the band. (25 stitches) Now that the body is washed, the edge stitches were hard to see! This makes life so much easier and my edge stitches are sitting there waiting to be attached to the button band:-)

I also am only twisting the knit stitches. (It would take forever for me to ptbl too!) It looks just fine:-)
wsr:S1, *ktbl, p1*, ktbl, p2t.
rsr: S1, *p1, ktbl*

#Pockets

I decided just to do the “after thought” pockets as I have enough yarn to do the cabled edge but maybe not enough for the whole pocket front. (Easier to hide the other iffy yarn on the inside of the sweater, right?)

I am also putting an I-cord edge in the top edge, as I am knitting them, on them to help keep them from stretching out! If they do stretch, I have a nice edge to hide the elastic thread:-)

SO close to calling this one done:-)

Jan. 26th

Finished this off yesterday with scrap snippets left! (I didn’t need to dip into my 3/16nm cone:-) It’s off for a bath and then place the buttons. (I barely have enough yarn to sew these on!)

I LOVE it! It’s a wee bit long in the armscye but I can live with that:-)

Pictures coming very soon!

Jan. 29th

I don’t like the way my hem sits, seems to wave a bit, and I have decided to redo and knit with smaller needles. It’s a little better.

Also, I didn’t like my pockets done with the cable pattern. They bagged and sagged quite a bit and they too have to be reknit. This time I will just use the ribbing and see how that looks. I have issues with my pocket lining too…. (I think I am becoming a perfectionist?) They don’t sit right either… I guess I am going to have to break into my 3/15nm cone!

#Measurements
Arm length: 14 1/2”
Armscye depth: 10”
Total arm length: 27”
Body length: from neck edge- 26” from Arm side- 23”
Body width:24 1/4”
Cuff diameter: 12 1/2.

* Note that my star rating and difficulty rating is low/difficult. I gave the pattern this rating because of the designer. She started a KAL and then abandoned all of us!? IF I was actually following the pattern, I would have been lost!! There was so much errata on the knitty page that I don’t think she could even keep up with it. She can blame Knitty, which she did, all she wants but I think they did the best they could with what they had to work with. (I’ve never seen this much errata on any other Knitty pattern!)