I’m slowly making progress on the 1950s Three Quarter Sleeve Cardigan Sweater. I really like
the design of the sweater. Having only side seams to sew up is gonna be
terrific! I don’t like seaming very much, I’m not great at it. While practice
makes perfect, it drives me crazy trying to get the seams to look nice and
lined up correctly.
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| My check list. In pencil. So I can erase it when I have to rip out and redo. |
I’ve been tracking my rows using a handwritten check list. It’s great. I can erase the pencil marks when I rip back after I discover
mistakes. Boy, I’ve done a lot of ripping back because I lose focus for 4 or 5
stitches and knit or slip two stitches in a row. That really messes up the pattern.
I’ve also used lifelines like they are going out of style.
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| A view of all the lifelines in the sweater back & sleeve backs. |
The lifelines provide a good way to make sure the lengths are
the same on each of the fronts. I can line up the lifelines as I complete the right
front sections and insert a lifeline through the rows I noted during the construction
of the left side.
I restarted the increases 4+ times. I didn’t like the way the edge was looking with the first several types of increases. I finally settled on knitting (or purling) the first stitch and then making a stitch (M1R or M1L).
The increases meant that some of the rows have three stitches of the same color. At first, I worried about the stitches were going to stick out and look weird; then I realized that I was making stitches that will be seamed up and barely noticeable. I shouldn’t have too many people wanting to inspect the underarm seams. I can’t even imagine how that would happen in the real world surrounded by non-knitters.
When it came time to put the right front stitches on a separate circular needle, bind off the neck, and work on the left front, I decided to try and leave the right side stitches on my working needle. It was a terrible decision. Not only did I have to constantly check that I was working on the left front, the needle was getting pretty heavy. I finally wised up and moved the right front to it's own needle with stoppers on the end, to keep the piece from sliding off, and the whole project became so much easier.
I restarted the increases 4+ times. I didn’t like the way the edge was looking with the first several types of increases. I finally settled on knitting (or purling) the first stitch and then making a stitch (M1R or M1L).
The increases meant that some of the rows have three stitches of the same color. At first, I worried about the stitches were going to stick out and look weird; then I realized that I was making stitches that will be seamed up and barely noticeable. I shouldn’t have too many people wanting to inspect the underarm seams. I can’t even imagine how that would happen in the real world surrounded by non-knitters.
When it came time to put the right front stitches on a separate circular needle, bind off the neck, and work on the left front, I decided to try and leave the right side stitches on my working needle. It was a terrible decision. Not only did I have to constantly check that I was working on the left front, the needle was getting pretty heavy. I finally wised up and moved the right front to it's own needle with stoppers on the end, to keep the piece from sliding off, and the whole project became so much easier.
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| Left sleeve back. |
I pinned out the left sleeve back on my foam blocking pad to measure the width. At this point I was really really hoping I was at the 11.5 inches as the pattern requested.
That's it for now. I'm still poking along. Next up: finishing the left front and starting the right front.
Link to the pattern.
Happy knitting!
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