Test Knit!

I very seldom do pattern work so this pattern has been a fun learning experience for me! (sometimes even a little frustrating)

The lovely yarn is a hand dye from Jorstad Creek. It is a washable merino wool. It shows the definition of the pattern well plus has a nice spring to it. The yarn is perfect for this pattern! My pictures don’t show the true beauty of this yarn.

Swatch, Swatch, and Swatch some more. I knit 6 swatches before I had a fabric that gave me joy. Upon completion of the swatches I had the lattice rib memorized.

The pattern is very complete. TRUST the pattern. I messed up a couple of times because I read too much into the pattern.

My new best friends….my highlighter and highlighter tape! I keep track of every row. They have saved me more than
once. Another thing that helped me was to make the page numbers very large so I can see them with a glance.

When knitting the pattern it looked way too small. I had my daughter try it on and it is perfect. There is lots of give to this pattern.

11/8/15 I have almost completed the underarm decreases. Will I have it done for Christmas? Time will tell.

11/13/15 When I test knit I try to show where I’ve gone wrong so knitters don’t make the same mistakes! The second photo shows were I messed up on the cable. I crossed it the wrong way. So I encourage everyone to double, triple check their cables!

There is some great information about this pattern on Vanessa Smith’s Group…Test Knitters chatter. Check it out.

1/8/16 Almost to the ribbing for the body. HIP HIP HOORAY. I struggled with the increases and decreases so instead of increasing 4 stitches per row I increased 8 stitches per row. That way I was able to keep in pattern. Saved me a lot of heart ache.

1/19/16 Working the collar. Whenever I get off base I realize I’m not following the pattern. Believe the pattern.