all blocked, ready to frog?

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

So last night I managed to peel the blocked poncho and cable jacket pieces off of the bed just in time so sleep in it. But then I couldn’t sleep (it’s never that simple is it?). I was thinking I should rip it out and start again on smaller needles. The pattern is huge and I was hoping that by knitting it up in the JS Ultra that I would get a slightly smaller end product. Which would almost certainly have happened if I had used the needle size suggested for the Ultra instead of the one suggested in the pattern. Clear thinking? Me? Not so much…

When I got up this morning I found that Steph had left a comment about my cabled jacket. She knit hers on smaller needles and it is just gorgeous. Go on, go have a look. Seeing her lovely sweater has made me feel so much better about this pattern*, but also more sure that I should be frogging what I have done and starting again on a smaller needle. Partly because it is so huge and partly because of the way it wanted to stretch way out of shape when wet, I think the gauge is a bit loose for the yarn and I fear that I will pay for leaving it that way.

What do you think, should I start again? If I do start again do I just use the 6.5mm needle used in the ribbing for the whole thing or should I use a 5.5mm for the ribbing and the 6.5mm for the body? Or a 6.5mm for the ribbing and a 7mm for the body?**

*Am I the only one that wishes Debbie Bliss would provide photos that actually showed the details of the pattern - as well as being pretty to look at? I know that lots of designers do this but DB really seems to make a habit of it.

** The JS Ultra calls for a 7mm. The uses a 6.5mm for the ribbing and a 7.5mm for the body. I have 5.5mm, 6,5mm, 7mm and 7.5mm needles, but no 6mm and I have to mail order needles which I am not prepared to do for this. Now that i have started I need to keep moving.

3 Comments

Comment by Steph on 15/6/2005 @ 9:36 am

Thanks for your kind comments on my sweater. To elaborate a little more, I used US10 for both ribbing and body, as I wanted to keep it looking long rather than blousy. If you’re using smaller needles, make sure to check whether the height of the raglan works for your arms. It’s chunky wool, and my sleeves were on the border of being too tight, but I was able to block them out a bit, and now they’re fine, unless I try to wear something bulky underneath (but I’m in California, so it works out). How does it compare to other roomy sweaters/jackets you own? If you lay it on top of another, it might give you an idea whether it works or not. Good luck! Oh, and check out HEK’s version. http://www.highenergyknits.net/archives/2005/03/index.php

Comment by Jan on 15/6/2005 @ 10:44 am

I don’t have much experience with such sweaters, but I have a lot of experience with listening (or not) to what my gut is telling me when I come to such a point on a project. It sounds like you really feel you should re-knit. I think you’ll be much happier if you do.

Comment by Kelly on 15/6/2005 @ 2:04 pm

I love this sweater the more I see it and the links you and Steph provided are not helping! Maybe after Cable Eight… Anyway, wow, HEK’s version that Steph pointed to was HUGE, so if you feel like yours is going that direction, I would guess its better to pull now. I don’t know that I’d be brave enough to pull out all you have done on it, but I do agree with Jan that going with your gut is usually the best option!

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