John's sweater is coming along nicely. At least, it looks good. Here's where I am now...
My gauge is good.. tension is even.. colour looks great on John... I'm happy with almost everything. Almost everything.
Last night, I transferred all the stitches to waste yarn and had him try it on to see how much longer I needed to knit it. That's when I discovered a small problem. If I went with how the sweater fit at the back, I might need about one more inch of stocking stitch before starting the ribbing. No big deal.
If I went with how the sweater fit at the front... well... really, I should be knitting another three inches or so before the ribbing. So, why the difference?
Well, at the very beginning, I forgot something very important. Humans are not uniformly cylindrical. That is, the distance from shoulder to underarm, measured on the back, may be a completely different measurement if measured on the front. That is the case here. John is somewhat barrel-chested. I should have knitted more at the front, making the piece from shoulder to underarm longer than that for the back.
I will continue knitting this sweater as is (making sure I finish the second arm before finishing the body of the sweater so I don't run out of yarn), but I will never be completely satisfied with the final result. It's a difficult lesson to learn, but at least I'm still learning.
It looks good, though.
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I think it looks wonderful, and probably no one but you will notice this difference when it's finished and your husband wears it. I understand it can be frustrating, but really, it's going to be a fantastic pullover.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I have never tried the technique, but I have read several times of ladies short-rowing across the front of a sweater for their collective hubbies to create more space for a barrel chest (or a beer-barrel tummy). All I can tell you is that it sounds good in my head but I have no earthly idea how well it would work in practice!
ReplyDeleteI think short rows make good sense. Once every 2.5inches or so. You'd have to do the math, but it certainly helps my sweaters in the back to add length so as not to ride up.
ReplyDeleteLovely sweater...