New Knitting

It is time for a new knitting project:

This pattern was purchased as a kit from L'Atelier yarns in Redondo Beach, CA in October 2007. The yarn is Highlander  from Alpaca With A Twist in color Dark Thistle. 

I wanted to start this so that I could have it to knit on the train to NYC on Friday night, although I was actually torn between whether I should knit or read, as I am really wrapped up in my current book at the moment. 

I really like the look of this sweater in the drawing, but I don't look at all like the illustration and I have some concerns about how this sweater will look on my own curvier body.  I don't want to spend a lot of time knitting it only to discover that it is a disaster.  So I had an idea, not an original idea, I am sure I read about this somewhere but I don't recall where at the moment.

I went to my local JoAnn Fabrics and picked up some plain simple cheap fleece -- whatever was on sale.

Then, using the pattern directions as a guide, and drawing directly on the fleece with a marker, I drew the shapes of the sweater pieces directly onto the fleece and cut them out.

Then I stitched them up quicky with my machine.  I used 1/4" seams.  I did not add a seam allowance to this pattern because the sweater is knit at 4 stitches to the inch with 1 stitch at each side as a selvedge stitch, which is the equivalent of a 1/4" seam.  If the seam had been much smaller I would have added a seam allowance to make it easier to sew.

Here is the result, without the sleeves:

Drawing the pattern on the fleece actually took longer than stitching up the pieces.  The pattern calls for 3 inches to be taken up at the upper back below the armhole openings.  In the pattern the decreases are spread evenly across the width of the sweater but I just took 3 tucks, which are actually kind of nice looking.  It is not exactly the pattern, but it gets the basic fitting issues across.

This pattern is not written so that the back and front are the same size.   In my sample, the back fits pretty well, as far as I can determine without the sleeves, but the front is too small, as you can see from this photo:

Actually, it is not too small through the shoulders, or at the hip, although I could get away with a little extra at the hip.  I think the knitted fabric is actually a little stretchier than this fleece, but not so much that I think it will compensate for this much pulling across the bust. 

It is difficult to see in this photo, and I was working under pretty tight time constraints so this photo will have to suffice, the front is actually much smaller on the right than on the left, and more snug at the right hip than at the left. 

So I need to draft a new front.  I seem to need about another inch at the left bust, and 2 inches on the right, tapering down to 1 additional inch at the right hip with nothing added at the left hip.  The shoulders should probably be left the same.

Once I have done this, I will need to alter the sleeve as the current sleeve draft will not fit the sweater once I am done altering the front pieces.  When I look at the sleeve pattern, as I have drawn it from the directions, I think it was going to need alterations anyway:

I don't think I like the really short, sharply angled sleeve cap, and the sleeve as written is both too narrow and too long for me.

But first, a new front.  And I haven't gotten back to the cutting table yet today.

I did start knitting last night although I spent more time reading than knitting.

I don't yet have enough length on the needles to actually reflect how this is going to hang but at the moment it looks a little big.  It is definitely stretchier than the fleece. So I might not need to add as much to the front as I originally thought.

First I need to knit another couple of inches and see if my gauge is the same as the swatch.  I must be tense when I knit gauge watches because my tension is often tighter than it is when I am actually relaxed and knitting.  Luckily I have the fleece pattern to use for comparison purposes.  Once I compare the knitted piece to the fleece, I will move on with redrafting the front piece, and perhaps ripping and restarting the back.

And so, despite all my good intentions I now have three projects sitting on the cutting table waiting for something to happen before they can progress. 

Comments

[Grace]

What a good idea! I always love L'Atelier's designs. Maybe on your next visit to SoCal we can spend an afternoon there.

[Carol]

I hadn't heard of this before - using fleece to make a test piece for looks/sizing a knitting pattern is a great idea. I have a few sweaters I'd like to knit up but have been unsure of how they'd look on me. I have avoided them since I didn't want to put all that effort into something I'd be unhappy with at the end - I will have to try this!

[Ann R]

I wonder if the ribbing round the front square opening will firm that edge? Especially if you make it a bit wider and do a fairly firm cast off (US - bind off -I think)
I think it may stretch enough to fit your hips...

And my tension swatches are often a bit tighter - I've always thought because there isn't any weight pulling down with the few stitches used..dunno!

[Gin]

Do you think short rows would be an answer for the fit in the bust?