Mind the Gap

I'm done with the springtime shell (name withheld to protect its innocence), and here it is in all its unblocked glory:

Normally I would do a lot more to photograph a new project than drop it on the floor, but I made a bold decision about this in the middle of the night: I'm actually NOT done with the springtime shell.

I have to frog it back to the armholes. It's gonna hurt. But not as much as disliking it the way it is. I fell prey to the classic blunder: I made an armhole that gaps at the bust. And by "gaps", I mean "serious side-boob peep show" Eeewwww. So disappointing. But, there it is; I jacked it up, and there's no crying in knitting. What's really blowing my mind is that I knew it was going off the rails somehow, but I still pressed on until all those fiddly edgings were done, and I even wove in the ends, as if that would somehow improve all of the structural problems.

A deep breath and a critical appraisal in the light of day resulted in the following diagnosis:

The notes in white (on the left) are the things I think went wrong. The ones in yellow are my plotted corrections.

A little research into the dangerous territory of bust darts (which I admit, are not my favorite thing in the world), yielded the following gem of an article by Friend of Knitting Amy Herzog:

Why You (probably) Don't Need Short Rows

Thanks, Amy! I had a sneaking suspicion that short row bust darts don't really solve all problems, and now I can prove it. Amy's elegant solution is to add more stitches vertically, which I can totally hide adjacent to the center panel, and then take them all out a few rows later. Poof! More coverage up front, and hopefully no more armhole gap.

And although I never thought I'd hear myself say it: The picot edgings on the armhole and neckline are totally not working here. I'm going to have to change them to something with a little more backbone.

Having emotionally committed to the frog-out, I'm actually looking forward to getting this fixed. It's like an itch I have to scratch.

Sure do wish I hadn't woven in all the ends, though.

Just Like Ginger

It's one thing to say that you know your knitting inside and out, but quite another to actually DO your knitting inside out.

Enter the magical world of Knitted Lace (different from Lace Knitting: Thanks, English language!). When making knitted lace, increases and decreases happen on every single row. Which means that if you are working flat, you'll be executing half of your sexy lace maneuvers on the wrong side of the work. And they can't just be inside out; they have to also be backwards. But not upside down; unless you are working from the top down, which would give you an aneurysm.

Sometimes it's really easy. To get a K2tog on the right side, you just P2tog on the wrong side. But other times it's brain-hurting, such as when you want a SSK on the right side.  With yarn in front (you are still purling, after all), you have to slip 2 sts as if to knit (re-mounting them), then slip them back to the left needle, then use your right needle to P2tog, but through the back loops (TBL!) which are now mounted weird. And don't get screwed up and do the wrong thing (left-leaning vs. right leaning) on the wrong edge of the lace pattern - I'm still compulsively checking the front of the work to verify which thing to do because I can't seem to internalize the reverse operations.

If I wasn't dyslexic before, I'm pretty sure I am now. 

But even the capricious Knitting Gods have been kind to me in one regard. I worked so many repeats of the pattern in when it was still in the round that I now know it by heart. I just had to add the inside-out dance steps after separating front and back to shape the armholes. And I think I like the armholes, so far, so I've got that going for me.

I'm still worried about running out of yarn (when am I not?), but I was lucky enough to find a knitter on Ravelry who was willing to part with her skein. I have no idea how/if that will work out, since this color had no dye lots (!). Worst case, there will be a noticeable color change somewhere on the back, which I will then have to grow my hair long enough to cover.

You'll only be able to see it when Fred spins me.

Groove=Found

I'm plugging away at my lacy vest-thingy. As you can see, I've finally got command of the lace pattern, and it's behaving pretty well now. I fell back on the old reliable knitted hem to relieve the lower edge curling problem. When you need to add some weight to the bottom of a piece, there's nothing else like it.

Now there are only two more challenges (!): A. When I separate front and back for the armhole shaping, I have to learn how to make mirrored decreases from the WS. and B. Will 900 yards be enough yarn? 

It's a pretty elaborate tube top, if not.