are hard.
I finished knitting the two halves of my Arwen Wrap, a gorgeous stole I have been knitting from some gorgeous alpaca yarn in a deep plum color. I had put the project away for a while, and it stayed away, and then I rediscovered it. I stopped knitting on it today. I still have more of the yarn, but I really didn't want the stole to be 10 feet long. So... there are two ways of putting the halves together (in the middle of the back). One is to graft or kitchener it, which is a knitting techniques that uses a tapestry needle to weave in and out of the stitches to create an invisible seam. It usually makes knitters cry. The other is called a 3-needle bind off. Faster, easier, but it does leave a more visible seam.
For some bizarre reason, I decided to graft it. It is a slow process, and when I got about 2 inches done I took a close look at it and discovered that somehow I got off by a stitch. There is no point to an invisible seam if your ribbing doesn't line up. So tomorrow I am going to verrry verrry carefully remove the grafting stitch by stitch, line things up, and do a three-needle bind off.
Then I decided to start the new vest. I was very proud of my preparation. I did not just dive in head first. I swatched with the purple yarn (remember? I posted about it earlier.) I washed the swatch. I decided which needle size I liked better and wrote on a label on the swatch that I had used a size 5 needle. I read through the pattern very carefully, considering changes to sizing and where I would do it. So tonight I sat down and cast on 77 stitches for the right front, placed a marker, cast on another 147 for the back, placed a marker, and cast on 77 stitches for the left front. I also put markers every 20 stitches to help me make sure I had the right number of stitches. Then, for some reason, I decided to double check the size of my needle, and saw that I was in fact using a size 6. Now that would not be a problem, since casting on with a slightly larger needle is actualy a good idea. Except I can't find the size 5s. And now am doubting that I used the 5s for the swatch.
So tomorrow I think I will swatch again, using these size 6 needles, to see if I simply misplaced (again) the size 5s, or if I really used the 6s.
The beginnings and endings of projects are always bumpy roads for me. So much for the fantasy of just casting on. Never happens.
I have to read back through your blog to see the purple yarn. I love purple! Good luck with the vest. I want to make a simple one but am still searching for the right pattern. Talk soon.
Posted by: Kim B. | October 13, 2012 at 04:57 PM
Grafting and ribbing rarely work well together. I'm sure you made the right choice
Posted by: Lisa | November 04, 2012 at 09:22 AM