Knitting Thoughts on the Child's Sweater

Yesterday was a grey cool day. No snow, very little wind, and a high of -2C. This morning it is snowing lightly and -4C. 

Lifestyle

The Spousal Unit has been working at getting the ice off the driveway. He is half done using salt and a scraper. 
I headed to get weighed in and was down .4 lb. Not a lot but I will take it. I've been tired lately so am wondering if my thyroid medication needs a boost. It could also be the grey weather causing me to hibernate. I did the shopping and was home before 1 p.m.

Sewing

I bought buttons for the red knit dress, ribbon for the Victorian dress, and some cream colored lace. Lace is so hard to find here that I buy it when I see what I want. This lace is for the remaining fabric left over from the test pattern. 

Knitting

I decided to watch The More is Less Right Formula for the sleeves. I calculated, I drew tally marks, I pulled out my hair and then realized I was doing something wrong in each of the steps. 

1. I had two too many stitches to pick up for the sleeve. Of course I did when I just listened to what Cheryl said. I didn't put the thread or stitch markers in the right row. When I got that figured out, I picked up the stitches for the sleeve and it was perfect. 
2. I knit the sleeve only to realize I had to decrease way more rows. I recalculated, looked at my numbers and had one wrong number in the formula. When I plugged in the right number it worked out perfectly. 

I've learned a few things along the way that is not mentioned in the course as you go along or which I may have missed or misunderstood.  

1. When marking the armholes mark row one of the second set of numbers. I should have knit 39 rows and then marked the next row; the first of 35 rows I had to knit. 
2. When finishing up both the back and front, end with an even numbered row. That means when you pick it up to knit the shoulders together, the yarn is at the start rather than at the end. 
3. When cutting the yarn for the back, leave a very long tail. You will use this tail to knit the shoulders together and cast off the back neck. I would say a tail of 36" would be plenty. 
4.  I don't know how I'd do the formulas again. Would I listen to her first and then plug in my numbers or do it as she does it. I replayed that part of the video so many times. I recommend you figure out the number of stitches to pick up first and do that step to completion. Then work on the decreases next. I did a lot of chicken scratching and will have to tidy it up for the second sleeve after I get the first one knit. 

If I knit this sweater again, I will know more about the process. I will follow the videos as I learn how to do other necklines. My goal is to knit myself a V neck sweater. My next sweater will be a size 1 V neck sweater to get the ideas correct in my head. 

Today

I am planning on doing laundry, clean the kitchen, sew, and knit. As it is snowing, I'm not going far. Only to the library to pick up a book I put a hold on several months ago. 

Until the next time....................................