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!
Sandra
your green gable came out great! i love the short row shaping you did for the bust. it really makes a difference.
that pink bunny is too cool.
Jun 05, 2006 @ 10:12 PM
Lisa
green gable looks great! it was definitely worth all that extra work, no? and the skirts are very cute! i really need a sewing machine!
Jun 05, 2006 @ 10:39 PM
Michelle
green gable and skirt=both great! hooray for japanese short rows and embroidery!
Jun 05, 2006 @ 10:40 PM
Veronique
I spotted the embroidered skirt right away! You did a great job with Green Gable. I have to admit I’m not a big fan of the “super easy beginner” patterns, so I understand your frustrations. But it was worth it!
Jun 05, 2006 @ 10:56 PM
yahaira
what a shame that the pattern was a dud, but you made it so great! the short row shaping especially.
Jun 05, 2006 @ 11:15 PM
caitlyn
Oooooh, both Green Gable *and* the skirt are gorgeous!!! Congrats, you just made yourself a really cute outfit!!
Jun 05, 2006 @ 11:36 PM
carrie m
green gable really turned out great, despite all the pattern issues. this is such a shame, since SO MANY folks are making it. the color is lovely, and your mods saved the day.
i’m also blown away by your cute skirts! i really love the parallelograms. i need to go back to your post about how you did it.
and i’m also obsessed with google earth. i love checking out my hometown and seeing my parent’s backyard. you can see the pool!
Jun 05, 2006 @ 11:47 PM
Carrie
Wow, it really looks awesome! The short row thing intimidates me, but yours look phenomenal. It’s an awesome color on you too!
Jun 05, 2006 @ 11:57 PM
Erica B.
OMG! It looks great! I love the skirts too!
Jun 05, 2006 @ 11:57 PM
Isela
Green Gables looks awesome! I haven’t seen the pattern, doesn’t it include short row shaping for the bust? If it didn’t, that stinks. I think every top should come with some type of shaping.
Your converted skirts are reallly neat too!
Jun 06, 2006 @ 3:31 AM
Kathy
The sweater and skirts are wonderful! I’m just starting the Green Gable and feel that I’m going to need some of that short row shaping. I usually like a sweater that doesn’t cling, but perhaps I should try some shaping. I haven’t gotten past the lace part, if I understand what you’ve written, you added the short rows after the sleeves were done and the body was at it’s final width. How many did you add? Thanks for your input!
Jun 06, 2006 @ 7:49 AM
Lolly
Gosh, that just looks wonderful on you! What a perfect fit!
Love the skirts too – you are so crafty!
Jun 06, 2006 @ 7:51 AM
kris
hey, great outfit! green gable is beautiful, although i was planning to make it myself and now you’ve made me a little wary … love the skirts too!
Jun 06, 2006 @ 8:19 AM
Nicole
I’m excited to see your new project progress!! I’m mostly excited to pop. But the whole process of popping is not exciting…at all.
Jun 06, 2006 @ 8:42 AM
iraida
Your green gable looks great. I just got the pattern but you’re scaring me. I got big boobies as well
The skirts look awesome.
Jun 06, 2006 @ 8:57 AM
Stacey
You have been buuusssy! Great job on the skirts – I have a ton of clothes that I just am so bored with – that is a great option instead of spending money I don’t have! Green Gable looks great – you should be proud of all your mods! It’s not easy! Think of how much you learned!
I just started 2 socks on 1 circ – hoping the boredom won’t kick in due to lack of visable progress for me….(though I am so into seeing things evolve!)
Jun 06, 2006 @ 9:34 AM
Gina
Your Green Gable looks smashing! The skirts are divine, and I particularly like the embroidery at the bottom of the one modelled in the GG shot. Eventually, I may revisit GG, and I’m wondering if my choice of Handknit Cotton didn’t have something to do with my disaster with the pattern?
Jun 06, 2006 @ 9:44 AM
missyjoon
Your gables look great! I think I will also need to do short-rows–how. Would you mind telling me how to figure out how many and where?
Jun 06, 2006 @ 9:57 AM
gleek
hi everyone! wow, thanks so much for all of your extremely kind compliments on my recent bout of craftiness! it’s nice to see some new names cropping up too. welcome lurkers!!
just wanted to let you all know that i’ve updated the extended entry to explain a lot of my modifications and some tips on how to customize GG to your liking. please click through to the extended entry to read more. hope this helps! let me know if you need more info.
Jun 06, 2006 @ 10:43 AM
beth
Wow! That came out beautiful. I love the decreases on the sides. The yarn color is pretty too! Good job!
Jun 06, 2006 @ 12:34 PM
Wanda
I love how your GG turned out as well. I finished mine but have yet to actually take a pic. I was a bit disappointed with the pattern too. I made a larger size and the fit was fine through the body, although I did waist shaping, but the arms are a bit big.
Anyhow, I think the changes you made to GG look awesome.
Jun 06, 2006 @ 12:52 PM
zephyr gals
What a bummer that you had such a hard time getting the pattern right for you, wish you had contacted us with your questions, we could have helped you avoid a lot of the extra work that you put into it.
We hope that people will check out the knit-along, if you do, you will actually come to notice that the majority of women have knit GG, several more than once, and all has come out just right as per the patterns instructions.
Also, we have a F.A.Q. page on our site that will answer any questions you may have about GG, including the questions regarding sizing.
Jun 06, 2006 @ 1:22 PM
jody
oh wow it looks great! i’m sad to read that the issues you had with the pattern (although several people have blogged about the lack of stitch counts…bummer). but, you muddled through and came up with a great-fitting top in the process!
did you end up doing the tubular cast off?
Jun 06, 2006 @ 1:45 PM
Skylar
It came out great! Thanks for the tips. I will get around to my own, someday. Perhaps it’ll be my vaycay knitting!
Jun 06, 2006 @ 3:28 PM
Steph
GG looks beautiful on you! I’m also pretty impressed with those skirts, they don’t look like they ever were pants at all.
Jun 06, 2006 @ 4:45 PM
Jessica Cary
Your Green Gable looks beautiful! It fits you so well!
And I love what you’re doing with your skirts–makes me want to pull out my sewing machine.
It was good to see you again on Friday!
Jun 06, 2006 @ 9:50 PM
jess
It looks great! I definitely think the short row shaping at the bust makes a huge difference; the fit on you just looks perfect!
I’m also diggin’ on the skirts! I really need to get off my butt and learn how to use my sewing machine! [just found the tute on whipup for the pants-to-skirts -- very cool! ]
Jun 06, 2006 @ 10:14 PM
melissa
green gables turned out very nice. i’m glad that all your hard work turned out for the good.
that pink bunny is absolutely awesome! and to top it off – that’s amazing it will be there for 20 years!
Jun 06, 2006 @ 10:22 PM
Wanett
This came out so great. All of your work paid off and I love the skirts! I’m all over the whipup site looking for that tute. I like the matching embroidery on the tan skirt too.
Jun 06, 2006 @ 11:06 PM
colleen
Wow! It came out great! It looks very nice with those skirts.
Jun 07, 2006 @ 7:08 AM
Amy
It looks absolutely perfect on you. Worth the hard work and modifications. Congratulations!
Jun 07, 2006 @ 8:04 AM
Rebecca
I’m loving your recycled pants! I went to Whipup.net and found so many inspiring projects! Thanks for the tip.
Jun 07, 2006 @ 2:33 PM
ivete
I just found your blog and wanted to tell you your version of GG looks better than the original! Congrats! It’s too bad you had to do so much work to get it this way, I hate patterns without schematics and enough information. But the finished top looks great!
Jun 10, 2006 @ 12:45 PM
Stephanie
GG looks great and I love how the short-row shaping worked. I really need to try it. And I love the skirts. Very flattering.
Jun 12, 2006 @ 3:31 PM