After my brief Smithfield snafu, things are back on track. I’m several inches past the armhole separation and enjoying this as a semi-autopilot project. It has been rhythmic enough to read to and it kept me company through much of The Rosie Effect (which I loved). It has also been an excellent companion to The Wire, which has become an addiction since I discovered it was available to stream on Amazon Prime.
I’m making some minor changes. I decided to do a slightly larger gauge (16 sts over 4″ rather than 18 sts over 4″) by going up a needle size. I’m making the second size, which would be 37.25″ at the specified gauge, but at this gauge will be closer to 41″ for the chest. I’m adding a tad bit of waist shaping, going down about 1.5″ total, or maybe 2″ (I haven’t decided), by decreasing at the edge of the side ribbing in the back every 3/4″ or so about 4″ below the armpits.
The larger gauge is the result of laziness. I feel like I’ll get the results I want faster this way, and I like the way it looks, so why not. The waist shaping will do nothing for me in my current pregnant state, but one day when I have a waist again, it might be flattering. I used to get more hung up on the size I was making, thinking something had to be close to my bust size for me to feel like it would be an attractive garment. It turns out that my favorite sweater, ever, is an Oshima I made, which is about 40″ in the chest. I also tried to imitate that collar for this sweater, but it’s not quite as loose and cowl-like as I want so far. I will see if blocking and some pinning while blocking make this neckline into the magical unicorn of necklines I want it to be, or maybe I’ll rip that part out and knit it with a different stitch or looser gauge.
The selfish knitting continues.
Wow, thanks for drawing my attention to the fact that there was a sequel to The Rosie Project -I had no idea! I’m a bit hesitant, though, is it really not too gimmicky/sequelish? (if you know what I mean)
It’s not as awesome as the first one, but I really enjoyed it. It just came out a couple of weeks ago. It was a fun read and I love that they reference actual article citations when spitting out facts as the characters. Geeky and cute.
How did I miss that baby bump post (I just looked back through 🙂 CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Congrats on your pregnancy! 🙂 btw this looks really nice! Looking forward to the finish project.
Hello! I stumbled upon your blog today, and I adore it! Your designs on Ravelry are fantastic! I’m also a knit designer in my spare time.
Good for you for engaging in a little selfish knitting! I haven’t knit for myself in what seems like a lifetime. I have a pair of socks that I started about 2-3 years ago, still sitting half finished.
I love the shade of red that you’re using for this sweater! I’ll definitely be looking out to see the finished product!
– Veronica – <a href="www.happyaccidentslab.com".http://www.happyaccidentslab.com
I think I may make a New Year’s resolution to do more selfish knitting 😛 This is just lovely!
Ooh this is shaping up to be gorgeous! I’m so jealous of your knitting and reading skills, my brain can’t cope with doing two things at once! 🙂
This looks to be the cosiest jumper! Have to add it to the queue now!
Congrats on baby number two 🙂 Awesome news!
It’s looking so good. The larger gauge with the stitch pattern makes it look really cozy, too.
Hurray for selfish knitting! I’m closing in on the end of my own red selfish sweater, and I can’t wait to see it all blocked and finished.
I am a big supporter of Selfish Knitting. 🙂 It looks great! I also had to say that I loved The Rosie Effect too, and I am looking forward to reading the sequel which I think is out now!