A BIG loser…

The stripey cardi has been scrapped 🙁 Here are some things I’ve learnt in the process of making it.
1) I can officially construct a garment that has stripes that line up when you sew it up, and make it look almost seamless.
2) Next time I design something with multiple colours in it, I will work a quick knock up to check the maths and sizing because:
3) If I don’t, my sleeves will end up looking like puff sleeves from the 80s – too baggy, puffed at the top trying to squeeze the colours in to match (even though I made the sleeves smaller than planned) and it would have worked out puffy anyway because the cap for some reason was too big for the shaping in the shoulder, too long on the arm.
4) This is partly due to the Handy Book not including row gauge in the factor, and me using the guidelines for matching gauge when you hit part of a stitch (i.e. 3.5 sts) without considering the potential risks.
5) I won’t bother weaving in millions of ends until I know that the fit is correct – I just did them while I was seaming so that I wouldn’t have to fuss. Also I realise that it isn’t really plausible to frog an item that is knit in stripes of 10 rows.
The good news is that because the yarn was such a chunky one, it took next to no time to knit, so I haven’t really lost too much time working on it, only sewing it. I’ve also not really wasted time, as it was a lesson. One that I probably won’t make again. My mate Sue, although she doesn’t realise it yet, will be getting the leftover balls with her birthday gift as she’s good at using up chunky yarn.
I don’t think the cardi can be saved unless anyone can suggest a way of fixing the puffs with a sewing machine to flatten them out. I know excess can safely be trimmed off after a trip under a machine needle, but I have no idea whether it is safe to blitz the sleeves in that way, especially with such a thick fabric. In spite of this, I still have an idea I want to action while it is in my head – a wide neck tunic with 3/4 set in sleeves with a puff at the cuff knitted in a lighter yarn (probably dk but it would look better in 4ply. I’m currently thinking of Garnstudio Silke Tweed). When I do this one, I’ll make the numbers up myself for the body and try and find another way of working out the sleeve caps.
So what now? I’ll be taking pics of the socks on the go before the end of the bank holiday weekend (I am almost at the heel of the 2nd RPM, so that should be done imminently, and yes, Ruth, there will be pics of the Sea Wool ;D Thanks for the gauge info!), and trying to decide from that long list what I can work on now. I’m not really sure what I want to work on. Chrissie is desperately in need of some work seeing as I have barely made it past the border of one side and it was for the last bit of PS2.0, but I also can’t decide whether to go for a simple st st garment or something a bit more challenging to try and capture my imagination a bit. If I go for something more challenging, that means I might neglect the socks on the go seeing as the Sea Wool ones aren’t totally straight forward and require lots of concentration for various sections. It would be nice to do something PS2.0 related, but that might not happen, especially as I have 2 Kim Hargreaves kits screaming at me to swatch up for them… 😉
Anyway, I’ll post pretty pics tomorrow once I’ve had a big therapeutic non-failure knitting session and maybe finished a sock/pondered my knitting future/hacked away at my cardi with big scissors for want of being able to do anything else with it. Time to catch up with some other blogs, but before I go, what do people think about someone of my figure in the Fitted Knits puff sleeved cardi? Could it work? But if it is top down, I can find out fairly quickly by trying the unfinished thing on I suppose. Just don’t know how Phildar Phil’Douce will frog. Perhaps a swatch is in order before lunch 😉

3 thoughts on “A BIG loser…”

  1. Hey there! Thanks for the great comment on my Puffy! 🙂 Don’t be afraid to make this sweater, I’ve found that the top down construction is great for us busty gals. It’s great to be able to try on the sweater as you go. The only reason I’m unhappy with mine is because of the yarn. I’m going to knit this again in early fall with the called for yarn, it should hold up better than the yarn I used (during ripping). Good luck! Give me a holler if you have any questions about the mods I did, or email Stefanie if you have questions about the pattern–she’s a great help.

  2. GAUGE! I can’t count – so sorry for earlier mis-information!
    Have just double-checked stocking stitch sea wool (underfoot) and it is 11 rows by 6 to 7 stitches to the inch on 2.75mm dpns.
    Keep up the good work!
    Hope to get my first sock finished tonight!

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