Call Me Content

Yesterday while knitting on the little gray sweater that really ought to be a smaller gray sweater, I realized something.  I am not fond of knitting with acrylic. No way does it come close to what it feels like as it runs through your hands and fingers and pours on to your needles as it does when you knit with a good basic wool.  There is a life, a liveliness to a natural fibre that isn't there with acrylic.  It has its place in the world of knitting of course, but as long as I can knit with something else, I am very happy to do so.  

This is a little distressing because I do have to finish one more Sock Monkey Cabin Blanket and then I have acrylic yarn to knit myself a variation on a Persian Dreams, the Friesland blanket by Jenise Hope.  Plus, I may have ordered too much of the blue and white, first given to me by Marcus, and may have enough to do a blanket for Marcus too.  I just have a feeling about that.  

I realized too, that I do not want to knit another wee sweater right now.  I want to knit my many other pretty things.

yesterday morning

I sat down and counted up stitches and checked my gauge again.  I knew gauge was part of my problem.  I am getting 4.5 stitches per inch with this yarn and needles combination rather than the five the pattern asked for.  I had already gone down a needle size and I already find the fabric almost stiff.    Nothing for it but to rip it back.  

The pattern does have you add four stitches under the arms.  Simply taking those out should help enormously.

after the first rip back

I knit about an inch more and then redid the counts the gauge and the math.  The sweater was still going to be much too large.  Even without the button bands, it was over twenty-one and a half inches around.  Sigh.  I pulled back again this morning, but this time, I pulled off the last increase repeat.  That changes the count and shortens the depth of the yoke and the depth of the armscye.

That is much better.  Just over twenty inches, which means when the sweater is complete, the body of the sweaters will have a circumference of about 22 inches, which is the maximum amount I wanted.  Anything bigger and it won't fit this little boy till next winter and I wanted it for this summer when they are camping.   

after the second rip back

I haven't knit quite an inch more, which is my standard to knit before you really take a good look at it, but it looks so much better.  It is starting to look like a sweater a baby can wear.  

call me content.

And now I can knit happily, knowing that I only need to finish this one little jacket for my wee fella, and then I will be able to move forward and keep working on my gorgeous Starting Point and it's rich and vibrants colours.  And then a top or two for summer.  

And a blanket for the landlord.