according to movabletype, i started on this post at 11AM and am only now getting around to actually writing it. i long for the days when i had a lighter workload (and an actual living, breathing staff to help me) because it is just not as much fun when i can't compose a blog posting ;)
anyway, as some of you may have guessed by the photo in the sidebar (check out that new feature! i love the new gallery.. and it's square thumbnails.. they're so chic!) i've finished green gable.
green gable at last!
yarn: brown sheep cotton fleece in avocado (just under 3 skeins)
needles: US6 for the body, US5 for the ribbing
pattern: green gable by zephyrstyle
all in all, i'm happy with the way this little number turned out. it really took a lot of extra work on my part to get this way, though, and i doubt that the average knitter would have gone as far as i did to make it fit. i'm unhappy with the pattern's lack of specifics (accurate stitch counts could have alleviated most of the sizing problems.) it almost seemed like it was more of a "guide" to knit the thing than an actual pattern. given a small amount of time and knitting from the top, you too can have this lovely sweater. you'll probably put just about as much effort into it as i did.
modifications: the medium size was too small for my 37" chest (if it had been knitted as written i would have ended up with a 32" bust which is 5" of negative ease and would never have fit me.. let's not forget that the pattern was supposed to produce a 36" bust!) so once i got the raglan seams to my preferred size by doing an extra repeat of sections A & B, i then did some research to find out how to add short-row bust shaping.
the short-rows worked out great! i used the japanese method which i learned about through nona and then continued on to the rest of the body which i completely made up myself. seriously, i didn't look at the pattern once after that. no need.
a good fit
i wore it to work today all proud and stuff. no one said anything and i'm gonna have to take it as a compliment.
but "what's that?" you say? check out that cute skirt! yep, the weekend proved to be very crafty around chez gleek. due to a car, subway, train, and rain mishap on saturday, i was able to really rock out the last of my recycled skirts for the SUMMER OF SKIRTS!! (be sure to say that in your best rally-trucks-demolition-derby-sunday-sunday-SUNDAY!! voice)
these were all pants that previously didn't fit me well and were crying for a makeover. now i don't have to go out and spend a bankroll to get more for the summer. huzzah! mission accomplished.
in other knitting news, i got through the heels on both of KP's yarrow rib socks and then separated them. two socks at once is just boring and it feels like there's no progress. i would rather work on them one at a time. i also wound up my candy floss from sweet georgia so that i can start on birch later this week! exciting! (well, not the "cast-on 299 stitches" part. yikes.)
in the meantime, i started on a ribbed baby jacket (see this sassy stitchess entry) for my friend, nicole, who is due to pop very soon! i'm using a debbie bliss raspberry colored cotton cashmere yarn. i hope that i have enough but i bought it at the point so i'm sure i'll be able to find more of the same dyelot if i need to. i'll post pictures later this week when i have a little something more than three rows of stockinette on the needles (i know, exciting, right?)
and for those of you who have made it to the end of this page, do you remember a while back when i posted a link to a story about a giant pink knitted bunny in italy? it was spotted the other day on google earth. satellites are cool, man.
edit:
ok, a lot of commenters have expressed some anxiety over starting their own GG after reading this post so let me go into further detail about my experience. first of all, if you have ever done a top-down raglan sweater before then you are already armed with some knowledge of how these patterns work and will therefore be more capable of handling any sort of modifications to the pattern.
here are a few tips to get you going:
- join the knitalong or at least bookmark it! carrie put together a great KAL and high energy jenny wrote a couple of really helpful posts on adjusting the pattern to get a size that fits! if it hadn't been for them, this would have been a major disaster for me. i followed HEJ's suggestions to use the backward's loop cast-on (which gave the neckline a nice boatneck quality) and to do more of the parts A & B increases to give more room in the chest. my main problem was that i wanted to have smaller sleeves in proportion to the chest size so i couldn't do the raglan increases TOO many time or else i'd have this big gaping sleeve. not attractive. so i only did raglan increases till i was happy with the sleeve size and then i joined in the round.
- use short-row bust shaping! once i joined in the round and tried it on, the sleeves were perfect but i was lacking space in the chest. i did a little research and came upon a knitty article that explained how short-rows work and how to use them for shaping. THAT knitty article then linked to a pattern that uses short-row bust shaping, and wouldn't you know it, it had the exact same gauge as GG. following knitty's suggestions to do any short-row shaping 2" to 3" below the arm hole, i knit to 2.5" and began the shaping following the instructions for a C cup in the pattern. i decided to use the japanese method, but you can use the wrap or the backwards yarnover. whatever you like! there are plenty of sites that give instructions on them all but i really like nona's tutorials as she gives you a chance to see all three and decide for yourself.
- go with your gutt and try on often! we've all ignored that little voice in our heads that says "this is too small!" or "too large!" and kept on knitting anyway. big mistake! listen to that voice. it's talking to you for a reason, believe it or not. i tried on my GG a totally of 5 or 6 times: after the dividing for the arms, after the bust shaping, after decreasing some for the waist, after increasing some for the waist, when i was done with the bottom ribbing, after doing the sleeve wrong the first time, doing it right the second time, and when i was done before blocking. actually, that's 8 times. geesh. i know how daunting it is to continually put the darn thing on waste yarn and then back on the needles but it's worth it. trust me.
- use a lifeline! the short-row bust shaping was the toughest part of the whole deal because it was new for me and i didn't want to screw it up and then have to rip back significantly to find a regular row before i began, so i used a lifeline. you can see it in this picture. i thread it in two rows before beginning my short-row shaping so that i would have a place i could rip back to and not lose everything. this gave me the confidence to go in there and just get to it! i dove right in knowing that if i screwed up, i'd be safe.
- other than that, the only other thing that has messed up plenty of people on this pattern is the lace portion at the top. in part A, it's a repeat of YO, k2tog, but in part B it's k2tog, YO. many people would forget the last YO before the increase and then end up with one less stitch on the next round. just be sure to check and make sure that you have it before continuing.
if you visit the KAL you should get even more detailed information on what you'll need to do this sweater. it sort of irks me that so much work had to go into such a simple sweater but if you like the look of green gable then just give it a shot! there's more than enough help between this post and the KAL for you to do it.
ok, let me know if you have other concerns in the comments! i'm here to help!
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