EPS, a la MSH

Meanwhile, back at my Elizabeth's Percentage System test laboratory...

When last I updated this project, things were looking bleak in the yarn supply department.  As in, I was running out fast.  I had finished the body by adding 1" long sleeves, with the intent to make them however long I could at the end.  I finished the neckline and plackets, then divided my remaining yarn in half, to finish each sleeve from the armhole down.  Then I realized that the edging I wanted on the cuffs had to be worked from the bottom up.  So I worked one cuff edging from each half of my sleeve yarn, then set them aside and hoped for mercy from the Knitting Gods. 

I worked from the armholes down on each sleeve, then grafted the cuffs on, hoping to end up with a sleeve length that was in any way wearable. 

Here's an action shot of the graft:  A combination of DPN, circulars and one lone tapestry needle to get the job done.  Desperate times call for Desperate measures.  Fiddly much?  I'm pretty sure I didn't exhale the whole time.

And then I ran out of yarn, one round short of the second sleeve's end. 

Trying not to cry, I grabbed my purse to storm out of the house.  Not sure where I was headed, just OUT.  But the car keys were in the other purse; the one I had just changed out of the day before.  And so was this:

The remains from when I wove the ends in on the main body.  I don't even remember where I was when I wove them in - somewhere without a garbage can though - or I wouldn't still have the ends in my purse.  When spit-spliced together, they added up to exactly enough to knit a round and graft on the second cuff.

Say what you want to about those Knitting Gods, but sometimes, just to keep us wondering, they are kind.

Oxygen deprivation notwithstanding, this was a really good exercise for me.  I followed Amy Detjen's short-row insertion strategies (Originally Elizabeth Zimmermann's, perfected by Meg Swansen, and tweaked for prime time by Amy), and they really really work.  Follow Amy around the country to where she is teaching, or take her class on Craftsy to soak up some Genius.

I finally understand where the short rows have to go and why (different for every person's body), and best of all, I've cracked the code to putting a circular yoke on my own very square shoulders (Don't be in a hurry to start the yoke decreases!  Suck it up and keep knitting longer than you want to after joining the sleeves). 

Do I wish there had been less fabric in the main body so there could have been longer sleeves at the end?  Yep.  Do I wish it were a little longer, overall?  Affirmative.  Do I still love the color of the yarn enough to wear this in spite of not loving 3/4 length sleeves? Yes, and Yes.  Wearing a long-sleeve t-shirt under it compensates for both the length deficiencies. 

And let's not forget:  The goal was to get a whole sweater out of exactly three skeins of yarn, which I did.  Yay Me.  Oh, and the other trick that never fails:  Use more buttons than are usually called for on a cardigan front to avoid Gap-osis.  I have 11 here, when there would normally be 5-7.  And make sure there are an ODD number, no matter what.  Because it always just looks better that way.  These are antique shell, with a super-cute exposed shank attachment. 

This is the perfect time of year to make an abbreviated cardigan.  In most parts of North America, we still want a sweater on most of the time, but a short one like this affirms your belief in the promise of Spring.  Why not try your own EPS sweater?  I promise you'll learn a lot.  But please, do make sure you have enough yarn first.