Finally have everything temporarily seamed up and tried on.
The two underarn shaping options turned out to be so similar in shape and fit that I couldn’t tell the difference. One is slightly nicer to seam so I’ll undo the other and reknit to match.
Everything fits but I’m not convinced the neck is as good as it could be. It is a bit too wide.
I have options:
I could move the v-neck higher, start it one cable cross later which would result in a narrower neck at the top, i don’t know if this pic makes sense but the red marks where the neck would start higher and the saddle would be a cable width wider
The neckband angle is dictated by the decrease of the cable, I can’t change this but i could force the angle to change more rapidly when it meets the saddle and this would make the back neck narrower.
Currently the saddle shape, short rows, start at the red line (centre shoulder) but i could change it to start at the front of the saddle, green line, would this work? Or even the purple line, extending the saddle further across the back making the neck narrower. Would this work?
Initially i thought just change the saddle. Now I’m thinking raising the v-neck higher might be a better choice.
I have many days to ponder it (it will take some time to undo all the seams and reknit a sleeve cap, frog the other saddle etc) and i would be so happy to get any thoughts on it. I’m happy for any other ideas for mods which i haven’t thought of too.
It’s absolutely gorgeous, is this a pattern you will be releasing? I’m more of a follow the pattern kinda girl, that once in a while will change something, but not often, I am not a math person :P.
I wish I could help you solve this. All I can say for sure is this is one stunning piece of knitting art already! I’ve pondered trying a saddle shoulder but think it might require American football shoulder pads on me.
Thank you so much for the compliment!
No it isn’t a pattern for release, just a one off, for me. I barely have enough notes to keep myself on track never mind writing it all up as a pattern, it would take sooo much work to write it, and then on top there’s the whole aspect of resizing every part for different sizes. Editing, proof reading, test knitting… no, it is too much work.
I intended to have decent notes for myself but the reality is far from the intention. Pages of scribbles, sketches, numbers and crossings out. I had an image in mind how i wanted the cables to develop/emerge with the sleeve increases and if i hadn’t accomplished it i wouldn’t have made the sweater at all. The finished sleeves look quite straight forward but they took a zillion swatches to discover/invent a way to increase cleanly.
The shape of the cable transitioning into the saddle and the decrease of the cables through the v-neck were also places I had an image in mind. I’ve got the transitions i wanted there, just not quite the right size on the neck.
Many of my note pages are just crossed out scribbles now!
Kind words GG, thank you so much.
I think i just need to start the v one cable cross higher up. It was a bit 50/50 where I started that v anyway, I knew how I was going to decrease the cables and work the neckband but really didn’t know if lower or higher would be better.
I can change my mind many times back and forth over the coming days.
Why shoulder pads? I don’t really see the saddle being anything other than a design feature to have a stitch pattern run up the sleeve and across to the neck. I don’t really see it as a shape or fit thing (the way I would a round yoke or raglan), but perhaps I should.
Congratulations on am interesting design! It looks very well proportioned to me, but it’s hard to judge without seeing it on an actual body. Do you plan to wear something underneath it? I think the neck currently looked well balanced with the body size.
If you raise the v neck, will it be more like a shaped crew neck? It is that what you’re going for?
Are you worried about the cables relaxing? Might sewing a ribbon to the neckband, at least at the back, control any tendency to widen?
I can understand that! I made an intermediate lace shawl for my grand daughter for her wedding. Took hours to write up and 45 hrs to knit! Because I don’t have a tech editor and tho I can read knitting patterns my ability to write them is something else :P. So I offered it free on my blog so someone who wants to knit it won’t complain about how I write it out :P. Like I said before, I am not really into creating patterns, I only write them when I can’t find what I am looking for, for something special, because like I said, math is not my thing (my thing is school was English, language and history.) I like knitting lace but I love knitting cables, they have always been something that catches my attention and fun to knit.
I have really narrow shoulders and a very full bust. If I’m not careful things just look awful. I adapt all patterns when knitting or sewing to come closer to actually fitting me. I do top down because I can check if things fall more or less where they should before I’ve done most of the knitting. I kind of envy you and others who can make things work when starting at the bottom. I’ve not attempted saddles because it just seems so hard but if I’ll face the challenge and figure things out it will be worth it. Maybe next week. I’ve not been knitting lately at all, my latest project being a test knit that disappointed. I need to get started on a request for a stuffed toy monster thing my grandson asked for. I was surprised to find he likes such things since he’s definitely an adult. I’ve no clue what he does with them.
My priority on the design was that the cable should seperate at the v and have a neat decrease line up to the shoulder (the decreases are not consistent like every row or every alt, there are none for 3 rows, dec 2 on alt rows 6 times, no decs 3 rows then 6 decreased at once) and i feel i managed that (there is a slight wibble at the 6 dec but it’s within acceptable tolerance). Beyond that i actually didn’t mind if it was more scoop, a low v, a high v, a shaped crew… flexible there, just nothing choking or too tight.
Some v necks are very high up in front (almost chokingly so, I don’t like them. My little mister’s school uniform v neck sweater sits higher than his tie and covers his collar fronts which to me is so wrong) but i have enough room here to raise the v and it still be low enough in front.
It’s an excellent point you make and it all helps me work it through, thinking ‘aloud’.
I would still make use of the decrease rate that i worked out, just less of it.
Not too worried. Everything is bound off and seamed so there is enough structure to prevent a lot of stretch in the back. Yes, the fabric and cables will relax but the bind off edge should stay firm enough. I bound off with k2tog to prevent stretch and cable flare.
I’ll keep your tip of ribbon as a back up plan though!
I might succumb to posting a pic or two just for the sake of demostrating the fit and front.
Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. You know i have slogged over certain parts of this. It looks simple and easy now it’s done. Well, I say it’s done, but I have another couple of weeks work to finish it!
@LDSVenus i was just thinking, you might like the wishbone sweater by Veronika Lindberg which is available to buy. The cable fabric on it is goregeous and it was what led me to want to make my current project (my cables are each 3/6 twisted knits wide and the wishbone is 2/4 wide). The wishbone sweater isn’t right for me personally (certain aspects of construction and fit which are not for me) but it is super popular so clearly a lot of people decided it was right for them. You might prefer it. Here’s the link
Ok, I usually don’t post pics but I realise that if i am asking about fit then i should show the fit. I have scribbled on these for anonymity.
The angle isn’t great it was the only place i could lean my tablet whilst being attached to 5 balls of working yarn.
Full length to get an idea of overall fit. One sleeve is seamed, has a large fold back cuff, other not fully seamed. You can see here the v is not bad, it is not cleavage low but quite low, the top beneath is a wide scoop. I think this shows it has a modified drop shoulder, the last cable on the sleeve before the saddle sits a couple of cm below the shoulder tip. Didn’t want cable bulk on the shoulder.
This is also a very bad angle it makes me and the sweater look larger than we are, quite frumpy (im no model but not quite as lumpy as this looks). But it’s the best i can do with my limited mobility and nowhere to lean my tablet on timer, anyway, I’ve scribbled on this to give an idea of a raised v neck. Red line is where it currently is and green is where it would move to which is about the level of the scoop top i am wearing underneath which is still quite low, its not as high as a regular tshirt or crew neck.
I quite like the depth of the V. It really accentuates the cables. But I agree that the neck is too wide.
Would you consider a different rate of shaping up the neck edge, to give a steeper angle / wider shoulder, or would that be too tricky? I know you spent some time getting the shaping to work with the cables.
Oh, thanks everyone it’s so kind to have such positive feedback.
@Mel61 I like how the neck line accentuates the cables too, but if there is another way of decreasing up this fabric then it is beyond me. The cable crosses are every 12 rows, half way through those 12 rows the fabric is super wide with 12 st of rib on largish needles really spreading out, its very elastic. The cable cross brings it all back under control and narrower. The decrease rate, has to work between these 12 rows to produce a piece of fabric the right gauge/measurement to look natural. This is why it decreases 2 at once on some rows, none on others and 6 all at once at the cross.
Hmm…
Still enough time for pondering.
I’m also considering taking one repeat out of the sleeves to make them about 5cm shorter. I love really long sleeves but little mister says these are too long and make my arms lumpy.
It’s very pretty, I applaud your knitting and creating skills!!! I also blur out my face when doing photos of things on line, with all the AI stuff I think I made a good decision.
