Technique

The seams are sewn and I’ve added a 3-row rolled edge to the hem, armholes, and neck. I also added a little roll along the purl ridge that marked the decrease row for the “gathers.”

At this point, the piece measures 17.5″ wide at the bust and 20.75″ wide at the hem. The body measure, 17″ long to armhole; the armhole measures 7.75″. Overall, I think the top looks a bit disappointing — the edges don’t really roll and the stitches are stiff and somewhat uneven.

l’m now going to take a leap of faith and put it through a normal load in my top-loading washing machine. If all goes well, the stitches will tighten up and even out, and the fabric will become delightfully soft and drapy. Wish me luck!

I’ve hardly put my needles down in the past week and I have the front and back of the Shibui Linen top to show for it. This yarn is surprisingly pleasant to work with and dispels all my prejudices about knitting with 100% linen.

Although I plan to machine wash the garment in the end, I decided to wet-block the pieces before sewing them together. I soaked the pieces in warm water for 20 minutes, put them in the spin-only cycle on my washing machine, inserted blocking wires through the selvedges, and laid them flat to dry. The striped towel helps be block the pieces evenly.

When the pieces are thoroughly dry, I’ll remove the wires and be rewarded with straight, even edges for seaming. If you have trouble seaming pieces together, try blocking them first with wires — it makes all the difference!

I’m closing in on the cuff of the second sleeve and everything is going splendidly with my Weekday Raglan. If you’ve read my earlier posts about this sweater, you know that I’m getting a gauge of 6.75 stitches/inch and am following the instructions for 46″ circumference to end up with a circumference of 40″ (the pattern calls for a gauge of 6 stitches/inch).
I want my sleeves longer than the bracelet-length in the original, so I’m working more decreases. Instead of ending with 66 stitches, I’ll decrease to 60 stitches and add a couple of inches to the overall length. The instructions for the 46″ size say to decrease 1 stitch each side of the sleeve marker every 8th round 11 times, then every 6th round 5 times. Because I know I’m getting more rounds per inch (9.75 instead of 7.75 rounds/inch), and because I want longer sleeves, I will decrease every 8th round until I get to the target 60 stitches.

After my washed, blocked, and dried swatch hung with weights for a day, the gauge measures 27 stitches and 39 rounds = 4″.

That translates to 6.75 stitches and 9.75 rounds = 1″.

The gauge for the sweater is listed at 6 sts/inch (page 93 of The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters). I like the density of my swatch and wouldn’t want to change to larger needles (and a looser fabric) to match that in the pattern. Instead, I want to see if I can follow the instructions for a larger size and end up with the size I want.

I’d like a bust circumference of 40″, which means I need 40″ x 6.75 sts/in = 270 stitches just below the armhole. The total number of body stitches are given on page 96, at the end of the heading “Divide for Body and Sleeves. The largest size has 276 stitches, which would translate to a bust circumference of 40.9″ at my gauge. The second-to-largest size has 252 stitches, which would translate to a bust circumference of 37.3″. Neither of these is exactly what I want, but the largest size is closest.

I’ve decided to follow the instructions for the largest size for all stitch counts, but because I’d rather err on the smaller size, I think I’ll omit the last raglan increase so that I’ll end up with 268 stitches for the body. That will give a bust circumference of 39.7”.

I’ll count rows rather than simply measure vertical distances to make sure that the lengths will reflect the after-hanging row gauge.

It’s time to cast on!

During the recent snow, I consoled myself by knitting a swatch for the Weekday Raglan (page 92 of The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters) that I plan to knit for myself. The sample sweater for the book is much too small for me so I’ll be following instructions for a larger size.

In the past weeks, I’ve taught several classes on knitting sweaters from the top down with a focus on circular yoke and raglan constructions from The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters. I’ve taken a few garments from the book along for inspiration.
I guess it worked, because when I was teaching at Wild Purls in Billings, Montana, I found myself purchasing yarn to make a version of the Weekday Raglan (page 92) for myself. The sample sweater was knitted in a skimpy size 34″, which is fine for models who are paid to pass on chocolate, but which makes me look like a badly stuffed sausage.
I chose Grignasco Champagne (75% extra fine merino, 25% mulberry silk; 165 meters/50 grams) in a soft periwinkle color (#375). I really shouldn’t start swatching this until I finish the saddle-shoulder top-down cardigan, but I probably won’t be able to resist.