Casting Off and Casting On

First off, here’s the Teo scarf I finished last week but didn’t have a chance to photograph before posting-

Very simple, I think it really shows off the color and texture of the wool, which I think is what The Shepherd was going for-

And with my needles freed up, I turned to starting again with Layton, a Julie Hoover design that was the pick of a friend of a friend. You might remember that a couple months ago I thought I’d knit this with Dottie yarn in a range of grays.

After a fair bit of swatching, I came to terms with the fact that the Dottie yarn wasn’t a good fit. So I’ve been spinning a new Chone yarn for the project.

I’ve got a fair bit of yarn spun up so far, and had re-swatched with better results, but still had some gauge issues.

Specifically, row gauge. The pattern gauge is 23 stitches/4 inches and 36 rows/4 inches. I’m ok on the stitches per inch, but the rows are kind of driving me crazy. My row count is 32.

At first I thought maybe it was a typo. But I checked the math between the pattern specs and the schematics and it seems to be consistent. Then I checked for other peoples projects on Ravelry to see if anyone else had an issue with the gauge- but it’s a new pattern, and it doesn’t appear that anyone else has posted about working on it yet.

I wouldn’t usually let this get to me, but in this case I think the impact could be significant to the shaping of the sweater, because it is a saddle shoulder design, knit in pieces and sewn up.

This had been bouncing around in my subconscious for quite a while. Then a couple days ago, I realized that I could work it according to Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Seamless Saddle Shoulder instructions!

All the sleeve and body shaping will be done according to the Layton pattern, but I’ll work the shoulder shaping in the round, so I can adjust on the fly and know that it all fits together correctly. And the stitch detail on the outside of the sleeve will still carry all the way up the saddles to the collar.

Whew! Such a relief to have a plan.

It seems fitting here to sign off with Elizabeth Zimmerman’s motto:

“Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises”

Thanks EZ, I needed that 🙂