I was inspired by Bethany’s lovely example to knit a Gemini . This is the second pattern from Knitty on my needles right now. Yea for Knitty! I started this last night and I’m through the lace portion, so it’s mostly auto pilot knitting.

geminiI decided to follow the raglan modifications done by this Raveler (who made a badass Gemini dress), and increase only every other round after the lace portion. I’m making the 30.5 size because the pattern dictates choosing a size that accounts for 4 inches of negative ease. That means that if my bust is 34.5, I should knit a 30.5 to fit like the model/designer shows on the original. I also suspect that my 100% cotton version will expand a bit. I might also stop increasing the sleeves around 66 sts, but continue increasing the rest of the body as many have mentioned on Ravelry. I’m still thinking about that one.

Sometimes I’m thrown by bust measurements. I wish patterns consistently indicated whether you should account for your full bust (around the widest possible part of your bust, right in the middle of the girls), or high bust (right under your armpits). I usually default to under the armpits, but I’ve also read and heard that your shoulder measurement is the most important (Amy Herzog and Ysolda discuss this) and you can insert bust darts via short rows to adjust if necessary. Pre-baby, my bust was pretty modest and I’m anticipating that bust post-breastfeeding, so I have been making things in that size. I still have a bit of baby weight to drop to be closer to my former size, but so far knitting has been fairly forgiving.

You might notice in the picture above that I’m knitting the sweater from what looks like a swatch. I originally picked up this yarn (Rowan Purelife Organic DK in Logwood) at Hand Held for cheap cheap cheap on the discount rack. I had 5 skeins of grey and 2 skeins of a peach color and I intended to make napkins. I made 2 peach napkins. They’re ok, but not fantastic, and I got sick of making napkins. I actually had a grey one almost finished, save a few rows, but I realized I had enough yardage for Gemini, so it is getting upgraded to becoming a sweater. In the knitting echelon, I suspect that’s a higher calling than napkin. The pattern is knit with a cotton linen blend, so I might lack some structure in the end, but it’s soft and lovely. I’ll risk it.

I bound off my mom’s socks today! Pics of those and Matt’s socks are coming soon! Now I’m down to just one pair of socks on the needles…

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