Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Le Lapin Noir: Pattern Mods

Here I'll be listing all the mods I made, specifics of how I worked I the pattern, and few tips you might find helpful if you'll be knitting this sweater. The FO post is here.

Size: The garment schematic shows that the 32-34" size (the one I made) measures 27" around, which means that for a 34" bust, you'd have 7" neg ease. I decided to make that size even though I knew it would have a lot of neg ease, it fits nicely, but I think the next size up would have been best. It really depends on what you'll be wearing the sweater with, I like to wear a tank top underneath for extra length so that made the fit a tighter.

Construction: Rather than working each piece separately, I worked the ribbing in the round to 7" (a inch more than the pattern suggests) then divided off for the back and the front. I increased one stitch on each side for a selvedge.
When I seamed the garment together, I first grafted the shoulder seams, then I worked the neckline, then I sewed in the arms (I used backstitching) and finally I sewed up the sides using the mattress stitch.

Front: I worked the front until the piece measured 15" from cast on edge (pattern suggests 13.5). 3.5 repeats. If I were to make this again I would definitely make it longer either in the ribbing or the argyle section.

Back: I worked the back in stockinette st until it measured 15" from cast on edge I then cast off for armholes and worked armhole shaping ONLY for another two inches, I then put sts on a holder for the neckline and worked neckline shaping.

Armhole Shaping: I worked the decrease pattern given until I reached 12sts per shoulder. I think 14-16 might have been a bit better. You might notice the argyle pattern isn't centered on each shoulder, I didn't pay enough attention during the decreases and I made the pattern go a bit off center.

Neckline: I picked up 2sts for every 3rows. I worked 3 rows in 1x1 rib then decd 2 sts at each shoulder seam. I worked 3 more rows then decd 2sts at each neckline corner. I don't think that was really necessary, but I wanted to be sure there was no gaping.

Arms: This is where I made a significant amount of mods. I cast the appropriate number and worked 1" of 1x1 rib, then I worked in stockinette stitch until the sleeve measured 5" from cast on. At first I made both sleeve caps the way the pattern suggests, but when I basted them in I had large puckers at the top of the shoulder. I frogged the sleeve until I had hit the 26st point then I cast off again. The original created a very thin rounded shoulder, after frogging, the sleeve was a bit wider (less decreases) and more square. I'd definitely recommend basting the sleeves before seaming, sleeves are a bit finicky, so you may have to made different mods.

Intarsia: I used large lengths of yarn (about 1-2yds) and split-spliced when I had almost reached the end of piece. I tried butterflies, but they unwound and got tangle up. A friend suggested popsicle sticks, which appeared to work, but made a most annoying noise upon the turning of my work and again allowed the yarn to unwind a bit. Use what works for you.

Colour: I used black in Knit Picks Palette, it wasn't too difficult to seam since the yarn doesn't have a lot of "fuzz", but you'll definitely need a lot of light to seam successfully. Speaking of yarn, I think KP Palette was a great choice for this sweater, it's a really basic, soft and inexpensive wool. Lots of colour choices too.


3 comments:

Teresa said...

That sound you may have heard is me jaw hitting the floor with the prettiness of this knit. So lovely! And I love your mods list.
(as for the length: usually I'm all about making them longer. The only reason I "designed" this one so short is because I was afraid of running out of yarn!)

Such an awesome colour combination. I need to try out KP Palette!

Ellen said...

Thank you! I just love your designs, they're all super cute. Yeah, I was really happy with the Palette, now I just have to see how it holds up over time!

Ruth said...

this is gorgeous! i've definitely bookmarked this pattern on my ravelry page. thanks for sharing about all your mods! very helpful. :)