darling, you look mahvelous!
[thanks FA in PA!]
you throw like a girl
The sun is finally out! It has been raining here for the past week and last night the wind really went into high gear and the skies opened up. I kept checking to see if the house had sprung any leaks, but it remained water tight.
Before I turn my attention to the leaves & pine needles in the yard, I thought I’d take a quick moment to show you the Stacy Pullover. I did indeed rip out those 48 rows, which took it back to the ribbing stitch. I changed to smaller needles, and am now getting gauge and am almost to the underarm decreases (again!). The yarn is Brooks Farm Four Play that I got at Rhinebeck last year – it feels good to finally use it!
did you notice that red thing in the top picture? that is a ball chucker – a tennis ball fits into the cup on the end and when you fling it, the ball really takes off. The dog thinks you’re Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron. Mr. Poe thought the photo op was the perfect opportunity for a quick game.
did you also notice the pile of pine needles in the pop up picture? that is why I have to run ….. hope you all have a great weekend!
sweet pals o’ mine ….
thank you so much for all your sage knitting advice. All agreed it was best to rip (and drink!), which is exactly what I did. After I posted my knitting SOS last night, I put the project aside and went to bed. I had enough sense at least to put some distance between me and the sweater. I figured I would have to rip it, but didn’t want to do anything rash.
I hoped to have pictures for you, but this day has been a tad crazy. Friends in crisis and one in the hospital! (our Flair had some tests done – thank goodness everything is okay) All is well that ends well and I am back to knitting the pattern stitch on the smaller needles. Once I get a few more rows done, I will measure my gauge to make sure I am on the right track. For now, it is off to spinning guild for me!
calling all you midnight knitters …..
Pride goeth before the fall. also known as Gauge goeth before the RIP. at least it will if you agree with me ……
Here’s the dilemma …. Ann’s a knucklehead. A lazy, gauge-skirting knucklehead.
Here is how it has manifested this time.
I decide to start knitting the Stacy Pullover. I measure etc. and have sizing issues. Which I have resolved. (see previous post). I do check my gauge. I really do. At least the first part of my gauge. The part that says this is what you should get for this pattern stitch on the smaller needles. I do not check my gauge for the other pattern stitch on the larger needles. If I consider it at all, I figure how different can it be?
let’s pause for a moment and consider the madness of that question
The pattern on the larger needles wants me to get 8 rows per inch. I am getting 7. I have discovered this discrepancy upon reaching the portion for decreasing at the armhole. Left unresolved, this will lead to a full inch deeper armhole than the pattern or my size needs.
I was all set to just re-work the math in order to get the proper number of decreases over the specified inches. Where the pattern says to decrease 12 stitches over 12 rows, I would need to decrease 12 over 10. This seemed simple enough and I could just take notes and be sure to do the same on the back. Until Boar, who had been helping me with the math, said, “so will you also re-work the tops of the sleeves?”
gah! the sleeves
maybe I should just rip and have a do-over on smaller needles. The rip would involve 48 rows. And while I have gone so far as to take a class at Stitches given by June Hiatt where she showed us how to rework the pattern to fit our gauge rather than reworking our gauge to fit the pattern, I am beginning to think that in the face of all of this math, that 48 rows is a small sacrifice.
what do you think? Not only do I need your advice, I need it as soon as possible, so knitting can resume!
or how about this (possible stroke of genius or sign of severe sleep deprivation) …… I am right at the point of armhole decreases ….. what if I don’t rip and simply switch to the smaller needles right now? what would that do/look like?
purlingswine 
