Freakishly long arms??
Why do I add inches and inches and inches to every sleeve length I ever knit and they are still too short?? Does anyone else have this problem?
I finished my Mr Greenjeans before I left on vacation. I have worn it several times and I've decided the sleeves are just too short. Ironically, the pattern calls for "bracelet length" sleeves (my least favorite look), but I decided to knit them longer. Now, after a few wears, the sleeves are bracelet length. The problem is, even in top down patterns, that I can try on as I knit, I can still never tell. I try it on, it looks great, then I wear it for a while and the stitches stretch out and the wider the stitches get, the shorter the sleeve gets. Here are the pics I took before I took the sleeves out. You can only see the sleeves in the last pic. I was waiting for David to come home, so all of the pics until the last one were taken by me holding the camera out and blindly pointing it at myself. . . cool
So, I unbound off, put the sleeve back on the needle, and started to extend the sleeve. The other thing I did to keep the cuff snugger was to change from a US 8 to a US 7 for two rows, and then go down to a US 6 for the rest of the sleeve.
In other tales of frogging . . . there's the sweater from Fitted Knits. First I (as always) did a gauge swatch. I was achieving my 18 st/4 inch, so I cast on and merrily knit away until I divided for the sleeves and connected the body. I then (tried) to slip it over my head, and much to my horror found it was INSANELY tight. Okay . . . frog #1. I went up a needle size and tried again. Swatched perfectly (hmmm), cast on and away we go. Dived for the sleeve, connected the body, tried on . . . still snug, but doable. Light bulb (otherwise known as the, freakin duh) moment. If you are going to be knitting in the round, for god sake, swatch in the round. Why did this not occur to me??? It's the purl stitch that affects your gauge, well if you doing stockinette in the round, there is NO purl stitch. What a dope.
From there came mistake number two. The sleeves are not knit in the round, and for some unknown reason, I decided to follow this pattern instead of ignoring it (as I usually do when I have the option of knitting in the round.). Well here in lies the problem. I knit the sleeves to a length that seemed good (as always, a good three inches LONGER than the pattern called for). Then when I started to seam up the first sleeve, because I was suspicious it would be too tight, and tried it on again - SLEEVE TOO SHORT. Errrr. Again, once you stretch the stitches horizontally around the arm, the sleeve shortens up. Frog #2. First sleeve back on the needles. Now I have both sleeves on the needle and the bottom still on the needles. I wanted to wait to decide how long it would be until I finished the sleeves. What a pain.
This time I'm going to keep BOTH sleeves on the needles and seam them both up, and try it back on before deciding on the sleeve length. Luckily, I got my whole KnitPicks interchangeable & my Denise interchangeable to play with.
Speaking of KnitPicks, the Point got these cool needle cases in from Ashland Sky. I was going to get a circular case until I realized that I don't need all that room because I only have 4 cables. The crochet hook sack is perfect for my KnitPicks set.
The cables tuck right in
It folds up easily
And my favorite thing, the frosted plastic is easy to write on, so you can label your own case
LOVE IT
I finished my Mr Greenjeans before I left on vacation. I have worn it several times and I've decided the sleeves are just too short. Ironically, the pattern calls for "bracelet length" sleeves (my least favorite look), but I decided to knit them longer. Now, after a few wears, the sleeves are bracelet length. The problem is, even in top down patterns, that I can try on as I knit, I can still never tell. I try it on, it looks great, then I wear it for a while and the stitches stretch out and the wider the stitches get, the shorter the sleeve gets. Here are the pics I took before I took the sleeves out. You can only see the sleeves in the last pic. I was waiting for David to come home, so all of the pics until the last one were taken by me holding the camera out and blindly pointing it at myself. . . cool
So, I unbound off, put the sleeve back on the needle, and started to extend the sleeve. The other thing I did to keep the cuff snugger was to change from a US 8 to a US 7 for two rows, and then go down to a US 6 for the rest of the sleeve.
In other tales of frogging . . . there's the sweater from Fitted Knits. First I (as always) did a gauge swatch. I was achieving my 18 st/4 inch, so I cast on and merrily knit away until I divided for the sleeves and connected the body. I then (tried) to slip it over my head, and much to my horror found it was INSANELY tight. Okay . . . frog #1. I went up a needle size and tried again. Swatched perfectly (hmmm), cast on and away we go. Dived for the sleeve, connected the body, tried on . . . still snug, but doable. Light bulb (otherwise known as the, freakin duh) moment. If you are going to be knitting in the round, for god sake, swatch in the round. Why did this not occur to me??? It's the purl stitch that affects your gauge, well if you doing stockinette in the round, there is NO purl stitch. What a dope.
From there came mistake number two. The sleeves are not knit in the round, and for some unknown reason, I decided to follow this pattern instead of ignoring it (as I usually do when I have the option of knitting in the round.). Well here in lies the problem. I knit the sleeves to a length that seemed good (as always, a good three inches LONGER than the pattern called for). Then when I started to seam up the first sleeve, because I was suspicious it would be too tight, and tried it on again - SLEEVE TOO SHORT. Errrr. Again, once you stretch the stitches horizontally around the arm, the sleeve shortens up. Frog #2. First sleeve back on the needles. Now I have both sleeves on the needle and the bottom still on the needles. I wanted to wait to decide how long it would be until I finished the sleeves. What a pain.
This time I'm going to keep BOTH sleeves on the needles and seam them both up, and try it back on before deciding on the sleeve length. Luckily, I got my whole KnitPicks interchangeable & my Denise interchangeable to play with.
Speaking of KnitPicks, the Point got these cool needle cases in from Ashland Sky. I was going to get a circular case until I realized that I don't need all that room because I only have 4 cables. The crochet hook sack is perfect for my KnitPicks set.
The cables tuck right in
It folds up easily
And my favorite thing, the frosted plastic is easy to write on, so you can label your own case
LOVE IT
Labels: Fitted Knits, Frogging, Knitpicks, Mr. Greenjeans
posted by Valerie at
8:26 AM
2 Comments:
Very nice! Sure wish I were so thin.
Have you tried measuring the sleeves (under the arm) on a sweater that fits the way you like and using that as a guide?
By
Old Dog, at 11:50 AM
I love the color of the blue/purple sweater!
By
Anonymous, at 8:46 AM
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