6.13. Swatched on US#4 30 sts and 40 rows.
Didn’t understand which way to hang the swatch, which way is sideways, but I found helpful notes from a fellow knitter here’s: Novel T
Gauge before blocking: 23 sts and 30 rows= 4”
Gauge after blocking: 21.5 sts and 32 rows = 4”

I wanted to add to the length anyway, so some stitches should take care of the difference in stitch gauge also. I am happy to be right on target with the row gauge.

Before actually starting I wanted to print out the cheat sheet and had the hardest time to do so. When I finally had it ready to print we had a power failure and our printer died.

6.18. Finally armed with everything to start , I started today and finished the right sleeve.

6.19. Making the body 8 sts longer and provisional cast on two sets of 85 stitches with scrap yarn.
I am adding four rows ( one pattern repeat) across each shoulder to give the finished garment one additional ease in width.

This is an easily adjustable pattern.

It is not the first sideways knit I have done. I made the Iris side-to-side top seven years ago.

6.25. Starting on the neck.
On the neckline ssk’s I used Cat Bordhi’s method to tighten and straighten the ssk’s. The instructions for flat knitting are written at the end of her video:
Cat Bardhi’s tight ssk
Looks like I am knitting too tight to make the neat ssk work in Cat Bordhi’s method. I am going to play around with it on a separate swatch, see how it looks like when I eliminate the hungry stitch , but still purl through the back loop of the ssk on the wrong side.

7.4. Didn’t pick this up for a few days due to work and focus on a pair of socks, but I am hoping to get some done today
I decided on my final decrease row to be two rows sooner. Then I started on the increase rows thus knitting two times four rows less in the neck, but remember I added two times two times four rows ( counting for front and back separately for the purpose of accurately converting into total inches added around) in the body before starting the neck, so the total additional rows is only eight extra in the body which comes to an inch.
LLINC and LRINC BTW , Laura does the increases different to how I usually do them, but I like it. I am always eager to learn something new. Be sure to watch the video mentioned in the pattern.

7.8. Joined back and front and started working on the left shoulder.

7.11. Finished the left shoulder during the Croatia: England semifinal; stitches are tight reflecting my tension ️

7.12. In the final body rows I simply knitted (or purled) the stitches onto a separate spare cable from my interchangeable set. It makes it easy when I need to work with those live stitches later; I will simply screw on needle tips.
Now I have just the 71 stitches across the sleeve to work with and I think I may get it done during knitting group tonight.
Success: Finished the sleeve during knit night

7.13. I didn’t like how different the left and right sleeve edges looked, so I picked up 71 stitches on the right sleeve across the cast on edge and bound these off knitwise on the WS.

I want to thank rmyers for posting the links to all the video tutorials which I finally watched. Here is a link to rmyer’s Novel T. Fun and helpful to watch.

7.16. Today is the day to join fronts and backs with the lace panels.
The set up takes some concentration, but not too bad…

• I picked up 15 sts from the front sleeve edge (plus 1 as suggested by the Grocery Girls), then picked up the stitches from the provisional cast on and very simply ripped out the provisional cast on yarn as shown in this video here: How to rip out your provisional cast on yarn easily. Then I slid the 15 sleeve stitches onto the beginning of my needle and knit across the live stitches.

• Using a different cable and needle tips for the back I picked up the 15 stitches under the sleeve from the knitside with my yarn tail ( I could do it more easily and neater that way).

• With the stitches on two separate cables with needle tips on only one end each I started on the lace pattern. From here it is easy breezy until I get to the last 13 stitches. I put a marker at that point so I won’t miss it.

7.17. Finished the right side lace panel in less than a day!!! In retrospect I should have added a multiple of 3 not 4 when I added stitches for the length. I was thinking of 4 rows per lace repeat, but you decrease your body stitch count by 3 per lace repeat. But I made it work with three additional lace repeats over my eight additional stitches. I also misunderstood when it says “ 13 sts left on either side”. I took it to mean on either side of the lace , not on either side of the total 15 stitch lace panel, but it looks good and I don’t think it will be too snug.
Here are a few things I did when working the lace panel:

• I placed markers 13 sts from end on both sides, so I knew when to start my decreases.
• Counting from those markers I also placed additional markers every 20 sts on both sides to give myself assurance that I was decreasing at the same speed. I was getting into the knitting so easily that I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss a 2tog on one side and end up lopsided.

I started the left side lace side panel. The set-up for this was super easy since I had the life stitches on cables already and all I had to do was attach needle tips and pick up sts along the underside of the sleeve. Interchangeable needle sets are great!

7.18. Where there is a will…and all that. I finished the knitting part today (also crochet around the neckline). I got up at 6:30 am and sat on my deck for about an hour to do most of it.
I love how this is turning out

ALSO: Did I tell you that Lauren Nelkin commented on this project?! Check out the comment section. This gave me a huge boost of happiness.

7.19. I could not help myself and took it to work at The Knitting Garage at Stickles in Rhinebeck and it is blocking now
When blocking to size, I made sure to add the extra length and width into my calculations.

7.21. Got up early to do the crochet around the neckline before heading to work wearing it.