Sunday Knitting

Full steam ahead on the Geodesic Cardigan! About a week ago I got this crazy idea that this cardigan would look really nice at a party I'm going to a week from now. And it would, but that's not going to happen. Nevertheless, I'm putting a lot into this project right now.

I finished the waist shaping just as I was starting the tucks - which you can see above - and then the neckline shaping began and just a few rows later I had to start the armholes. What this means is that I've had to keep track of several things all at once. The tucks are a series of 18-row repeats, and while the last 8 rows are plain stockinette you still have to count them. The waist shaping meant an increase every 12 rows, which thankfully finished just before I had to begin the neckline shaping. That involves decreases every 4 rows.

I've been using a row counter to keep track of where I am on the shaping and every time I do another increase or decrease I make a mark on the pattern and start the counter again. With the tucks, it's more complicated. There are short-rows, so sometimes I'm doing a few rows on the left tuck and then moving over to the right tuck and doing a few rows there, so I'm frequently at a different spot of the 18-row repeat on the left and the right. I know that sounds confusing, and it is. It makes more sense when you're doing it, but it means I have to keep track of them separately. So I have two small post-it notes on the pattern where I mark off the rows of the repeat I'm on: one post-it for the left side and one for the right side.

Now that I've separated for the armholes I'm just working on the back, which is a nice break from the tucks. Still lots of counting though, because I want to know how many rows I'm knitting to achieve the required length. This is more precise than measuring and I want to be sure the front and back come out correctly in relation to each other.

My next project may be something a little more plain and straightforward. I've been eyeing some of the sweaters in the Winter issue of Interweave Knits, which is one of the best issues I've seen from them in a while.