Nineteen

I hadn't planned on watching the Academy Awards on Sunday night, but I did, and because I did I also got the rice stitch cardigan back knitted up to the armhole shaping,  19 inches or rice stitch, since this sweater has been lengthened for my extra height.  This gave me an opportunity to take the sweater off the needles, take some measurements, and make some calculations about yarn requirements before proceeding.

The news is not good. 

In order to make the pattern in the length and size I wish, with sleeves, I need at least 4 more skeins and probably 6 because I am pretty confident that the sleeves as written are going to be too short.  Before I continue with this sweater (shown off the needles), some decisions need to be made.

First of all, can I procure 6 more skeins of the same dye lot?  Does it matter?  Well that depends on how much the dye lots vary, with some yarns it matters more than others.

Do I want to buy 6 more skeins of a rather expensive yarn, or should I just knit something else?

I do have enough yarn to knit this sweater as shown in the Fall 2006 Vogue Knitting magazine, as a vest, and a vest is not such a bad thing.  I just had my heart set on a jacket.

Or do I just knit something else.  I certainly have enough yarn to knit a perfectly nice turtleneck or other pullover in stockinette, perhaps even with a cable or pretty shaping.  The rice stitch called for in this pattern eats through the yardage.

Still, I wonder, how did I end up so short of yarn.  The sweater I am knitting was a kit.  I am not altering the size of the sweater that much, lengthening it a little, but my gauge is only a little bit tighter than the pattern calls for, 5 stitches per inch instead of 4.9 stitches per inch.  When I calculate how much yarn I would need as the pattern is written I still come out 2 skeins short.  So why did they only send me 17 skeins when I needed 19 or even 21? I am sure that I would have told the girl that took the order that I was lengthening the cardigan, but I guess I can't expect them to calculate the extra yardage needed for that; if she had told me the dimensions of the sweater, I could have calculated the difference in the square inches and told her how much extra yarn to order. 

In the end however, even if they had sent me 19 skeins, I would still have been short, and I would still be facing this dilemna.

If I go for the vest at least I can continue knitting, without ripping out, washing the yarn, and starting over.

Vest?
Cardigan?
or completely different sweater?

 

Comments

[Gina]

I vote with Susan. Yes, the additional yarn will be another expense, but I know you had your heart set on converting this vest to a cardigan, and I think you should execute your vision...otherwise you'll end up like me, ripping out everything you knit and hiding the yarn.

[Susan]

While I agree with your idea of adding sleeves, I also sympathize with your angst. I've been beset with a vision for a sweater, and I can't find a pattern to satisfy the vision. This leads to a lot of knitting, re-thinking, and ripping *sigh*.
My overall philsophy is that you should buy the extra yarn and knit it to satisfy yourself completely. Otherwise, why bother--half just won't do. (Surely the people that sold you the kit will have more of that dyelot.)
However, I will say that my innate unwillingness to spend a lot of money on clothing rarely lets me follow this philsophy. :)