02-19-2021

Swatched with Isle of Bute yarn. It’s a 4-ply fingering weight. I’m getting 7.5 sts and 9.5 rows/inch. Will use the size 36 instructions to knit the size 38 (which was written for a gauge of 8 sts and 10 rows/in)

03-03-2021

Ribbing done and first 2 inc rows for the back. 5.5%

05-02-2021

Knit right front this week. 40% finished. Calculated stitches/gram for ribbing on smaller needles and st st on larger needles and then calculated total number of sts of each type for entire sweater, to see if I will have enough for full length sleeves. I have plenty for 3/4 length, but unlikely to have enough for full length.

Will swatch options for working sleeves.
Option A: PCO for sleeve at base of cap, work bottom up to make decrease shaping of body along seamline, as per pattern, but then work sleeve top down from PCO in order to maximize yarn usage.

Option B: Work entire sleeve in reverse, including cap, which will require reversing the shaping, using increases. This may cause the shaping along seamline to not look as nicely mirrored. I think lifted increases are my best option, but will also compare other choices.

05-12-2021

Left front complete ~50% finished.

06-03-2021

buttonhole band finished and right yoke begun.

Began first sleeve. JMCO 112 sts for upper sleeve, st st for 9 rows, then shape cap.

65%

06-21-2021

2nd steeve begun. Based on total st count with full length sleeves, 80% complete. Very likely sleeves will be shorter, so total st count will be less which means I am further along.

07-11-2021

Knit 20 of 30 rnds for sleeve 1 cuff, and then returned to sleeve 2 to see how far I could get with the remaining yarn. 12 rnds of the cuff. Ripped out the swatch, which has enough yarn to knit the remainder of the 30 rnds for each cuff. Barely. Then the knitting of this thing will be DONE!

And then I can sew it all together. 98%

10-01-2021

Ripped out the yoke seams because they were wonky and I couldn’t figure out why. Then realized it was because the two pieces had the same shaping rate, which was shaping 2 rows out of every three. I had been trying to seam one yoke column (k or p) to one front selvedge st, which didn’t work. Once I figured out how to match up the edges so that the seams would work, everything fell into place. Similar challenge on the shoulders (front shoulder has 50ish sts of k1p1 ribbing while back shoulder has 37 sts).

02-02-2022

Re-knit the sleeve cap for the first sleeve, and seamed it in the armhole to see if it’s better than the first one. Seems to be. Will continue with sleeve. Even though it’s better than the first one, I’m not thrilled with it, but this gives me an understanding of this construction method, which is different than other set in sleeve constructions I’ve knit.

04-13-2022

FINALLY set the sleeves into the armholes again, and seamed up the sleeves. Also wove in approximately 943 yarn tails. Washed and blocked with a fan blowing on it. I hope it will be dry tomorrow morning so that I can do the Petersham ribbon for the front bands.

04-15-2022

Sewed in the grosgrain ribbon on the button band, and tried a couple of different tactics for button hole band. The buttonholes have to be larger in the grosgrain to fit the button through, but these buttons are also 3-dimensional, requiring an even larger buttonhole, which extends almost the entire width of the ribbon. Very difficult to get them through the ribbon. Found an alternative method in Principles of Knitting, which I think could work well, but I want to modify it slightly before I execute it. Sweater is completely wearable as it is, though, and I am so pleased with how it fits me. I was sure that after all that work, it would be a complete letdown, but it’s not! Yay!