Sunday, February 13, 2011

A Pinwheel Oops! and Aha!

I frogged back to where I divided for the sleeves. I got befuddled where the directions say:

"...Knit the first set of 30 stitches and the yo from the round before,
place the second set of 30 stitches on a holder, join a new ball of yarn and
cast on 30 stitches using a provisional cast on - see above for provisional
cast on instructions (this will be the sleeve later), join yarn and continue
knitting 4 more sets of 30 stitches plus the yo's from the previous round,
slip the next 30 stitches on a holder, join yarn and cast on 30 stitches
using a provisional cast on, knit the last 30 stitches and yo from the
previous round. Continue in pattern increasing [every other row]..."

I thought I followed these directions properly, but I knew something was wrong when I tried to fit the armhole over my arm and didn't succeed. GAH! So I tinked back AGAIN. Thank GOD I have an extra set of needles the same size and long enough to accommodate the ginormous amount of stitches that I currently have on my needles.

I analyzed what I needed to do to complete this sweater and I think I figured out an alternative way to work the sleeves so that it made sense to me.

When I frogged back to where I had slipped the first set of stitches, I discovered that the working yarn was on the left side of the slipped stitches. I decided just to continue from that point. Then:

  • I knit to where the directions say to slip the second set of stitches (for the left armhole) and slipped 50 onto scrap yarn.
  • I turned my work around, so that the wrong side was facing me.
  • Instead of casting on provisional stitches, I cast on 50 stitches using the Cable Cast On, and started by placing my needle in between the 2 previous stitches that I had just completed. These new stitches were consequently placed on the right needle.
  • When I knit to the part where I had slipped the first set of stitches, I joined another ball of yarn and casted on 50 stitches using the Cable Cast On method again This time with the right side facing me, and these stitches were placed on the left needle.
  • After the 50 stitches were cast on, I cut the yarn, leaving about 5 inches of tail.
  • I then continued knitting with my working yarn into the stitches just cast on. So that the newly cast on stitches would be secure, I knit with the tail and the working yarn together for about 5 stitches.

Now I am able to continue in the pattern. Yippee!

My picture of the day is a picture of my daughter and her BFF at the roller rink.


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