MeowGirl: the oregano incident

as Kitty Kitty wrote, i'm now reveling in the holiday weather of ohio and crossing my fingers for some fluffy snow very soon. oregano had to stay behind in berkeley, but this is where i left off:

i completed the sleeves (sleeves to my first sweater!!!) and began knitting the body in the round. it was 18 rows or 3 inches like this:

then i noticed something... the side decreases were wobbly! created circularly, my sweater depended upon increases/decreases instead of side seams, and mine were squirming like wiggly snakes. this is a problem.

i had planned one stitch increases/decreases for each side of the sweater and ended up with left-leaning ones due to patterns in the ribbing. um, this doesn't make for a straight line, at least not with me knitting.

i had no experience to guide me--time for test knitting:

the swatch has three types of decreases interspersed with regular rows (no decreases). A is a center double decrease, B left decrease (slip pullover), C right decrease (knit two together). these are not exactly comparable decreases, but they were the ones i knew.

the swatch told me i had made an extremely unwise choice. in alternation with regular rows, B not only wriggled but the stretched right-side stitch emphasized any irregular spacing of decrease rows. A is the straightest, while B is acceptable. also, the fabric pivots on both sides of A, but just one side of C.

in any case, oregano couldn't have such funny wobbly side seams, so... yes, i ripped out the whole thing. back to the drafting board on the body for me.

i have some time to work on the pattern before i'm reunited with oregano. i've been to the public library to check out The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt (out of print), Vogue Knitting, and The Knitter's Guide to Sweater Design by Carmen Michelson & Mary-Ann Davis (out of print). some research is in order, and i've been learning all about slipped versus pullover decreases, different double decreases, and even decorative decreases.

no final pictures of strawberry cream and chocolate ruffle because procrastination has permeated the finishing stage of the scarf. as you can see from Kitty Kitty's picture, it is still in its curled state and needs to be block. the only reason it appeared in public was because i carried it on the plane to reduce the number of ends yet to be weaved in. i have 5 out of 80 left, then block, then final pictures.