I’ve been working more on the sweater I started a long long time ago on another continent. The body, collar, and bottom rib are completed and stitched down, and I love how it looks and it seems like a great fit.
I started on the first sleeve a couple weeks ago, and got down to the cuff today. I didn’t have DPNs of the right size for the cuffs, and quickly decided I HATE with a burning passion the stupid little 9in circular I have. The itty bitty short needles really cramp my yarn tension style and my stitches were a hot mess. I was going to need to get needles.
I looked back over the sleeve and decided that honestly, I hadn’t really loved the 8in metal DPNs I’d used for the main sleeve all that much either. I mean, I kinda knew that but they weren’t as bad as the stupid little circs. But as I examined my stitches, I realized they just were more insidious. Their weight and length meant that especially on the sleeve cap and where I’d picked up stitches in the armhole, my stitches were uneven and larger on the purl side. Added to that is the fact that I missed a decrease at the beginning and had one too many stitches all the way done… this sleeve is coming out.
So I’ve bought new DPNs in both 3.5mm and 3mm. These are literally less than half the weight of the 3.5mm DPNs I was using, even accounting for the fact that I’ll have to use all 5 of the new ones and only used 4 of the ones I already had. I got to the yarn store 10min before they closed for the day.
And now I’ve pulled out pretty much an entire sleeve. The only good news is that I know that my revised instructions for the sleeves will work nicely. I went up a size for the sleeve cap and then not only have the written decreases – I need to decrease down two sizes to the cuff. I have teeny wrists compared to my biceps.
I am hopeful that knitting will be quicker with needles I like better. I’ll note that when people tell you that you don’t need the fanciest or most expensive tools to do a hobby like knitting – this is true. But decent tools suited to the job go a long long way. The needles I pick up at a JoAnns, Michaels, or the like are just never as easy or comfortable to use, and thus don’t create the same quality product, as those brands sold by local yarn or craft shops. I consider myself a pretty accomplished knitter, and I know my stitches tend to be even. But the cheap heavy DPNs I was using for the sleeve just made things tougher. As a newer knitter, I might have thought it was me.
Anyway, I’m going to be on sleeve island for a while. Still hoping I can get this done while there is still colder weather.