When I cast on this sweater, a week ago Sunday, I wanted to see if I could whip out a sweater in a week — as a palate cleanser and personal challenge (what can I say? I’m a masochist) — if I went with the world’s simplest construction. No neck shaping, top down, bulky. Just cast on and go go go. By that Thursday I was too sick to knit, and after posting the top-left image here on Friday morning, and commenting about how I wasn’t happy with the raglans, I feared the week was a wash. Friday night I knit half a sleeve. Saturday I frowned at the whole thing, ripped it back to the neck, rewound the yarn and did a little math. Sunday I started the yoke all over.
On me, at least, and in this yarn and color, the neck felt a little retro and I wanted raglans that played into that — with an angle and placement that was more vintage-sweatshirt-like. The first set, on the left, were m1 increases worked every other round. The second set are kfb increases with 2 stitches in between, which makes them simultaneously wider (more in keeping with the proportion of the sweater) and less pronounced. To get the slope I wanted, I worked them every third round, then picked up the pace for the last few, causing them to bend toward the armpit more naturally at the bottom of the yoke. And they begin lower on the neckline (more sleeve stitches to start, fewer front and back). As a result, I’ve got no bunching around the underarms! And a new motto: You’ll never regret taking the time to get it right.
Since it didn’t turn out to be a one-week sweater, I thought maybe I could at least finish it in January but, alas, didn’t happen. While it’s much farther along at this point (quite a bit farther than this), I’ve still got hours of knitting to do. If all goes well, maybe I’ll get to show you the finished product next week.
Have a great weekend. As always, I’d love to hear what you’re working on!
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