Monday Moments and My Improv Sweater

Claude Monet

     You know the old saying practice makes perfect.  Well I seem to be practicing a lot this weekend.  I did my math, figured out my cast on stitches for my impromptu sweater, a top-down sweater KAL with tutorials (Improv - Fringe Association) and on Saturday cast on and knit away for hours.  Then at Midnight I realized that I skipped one increase at the first row for a raglan.  The whole front side was not the same shape triangle as the other side and I'm not into making a whole sweater if the top is off.  So I ripped it out.  But what started as a sad decision ended up being such a good thing.  I changed so many things for the better.

     First, because it was off the needles I could drape it on my shoulders and check my design so far.  I had gotten a correct neck size, but it was more of a tight crew size neck and I wanted a loose fit and a nice scoop.  It wasn't happening.  So I rethought my numbers, increasing the back, adding a couple stitches at the sides.  The Fringe Association's tutorial said that if it's too loose I can adjust through my ribbed neck band.  So I'm feeling a bit better about the numbers.

     Next I realized I want more of a dip down in my front scoop neck.  Reading another's handling of the "pattern" I found that she waited 1.5 in. of  knitting the front first with only raglan increases and no side increases ( "winging it").  So I had at first done 1 in. but I discovered that is not enough.  The second time I'm doing 2 inches and then starting to add a stitch on each end (the fronts) every 4th row.  Hoping this will give me a good scoop and I have more room to decide when to stop and cast on the bottom of my scoop neck so I don't have a V neck.

     So my third adjustment was a fix in my first row after cast-on!  I discovery that since I had done the long tail cast-on I should of purled my first row.  I didn't  know this, but I had a large ridge at my neck in my first try and wondered if there was a quirk about that particular cast-on that I didn't know.  After research, I found out that if you are doing stockinette that the long tail cast-on counts for the cast on and the first knit row.  So armed with this new knowledge, I purled, and placed my markers anew at the beginning and it looks so good!  Flat, perfect.  So I'm learning.

     So my weekend has been trying to catch up to where I was, but I feel good about what I have gotten accomplished.  My simple sweater is on its way and I'm feeling hopeful that I can figure everything out as I go.  The Really Improv Sweater!