I will post picture of progress and also some of the pattern. I am finishing up first ball of yarn and got to looking at things and I am making myself so confused. I am planning on finishing like second picture from top. I think my cast on edge is the side where button holes are. Original instructions were to cast on 61. I cast on 101 because I wanted it to come to mid forearm. Directions say dimensions 12x42. My cast on edge is 20-21. So is this going to be too big. Also if you look at the piece so far, I see stripes but aren’t they going to look backwards, not progressing across but going up and down. I am seriously considering starting over… help me off the ledge
Direction of knitting
Your knitting looks great so far.
I think you’re right that the stripes will be vertical with the cast on and bind off edges coming together with the button fastening. If you don’t like vertical stripes then perhaps starting over would be the best option. You can calculate how many stitches you need for the entire width and knit up from the bottom, or down from the top, and would need to reposition the button holes which could be worked at one edge, or you could add a button band afterwards, or you could make afterthought button holes when finished (I used this method on a cardigan because I couldn’t be sure where I wanted the buttons positioned whilst I knit, I decided afterwards whilst wearing it and then made the holes).
With regards to if it would be too big, the 20 inch you have is the length when worn so you’ve achieved a longer arm length (you can drape the knitting in to you now to see if its the length younhad in mind). If you restarted working the other direction you would be able to continue until you had the length you wanted and try it on as you went.
My problem is always that I never know how big I want a thing to be, whether it would look better shorter or longer or with more or less ease, it’s my constant struggle!
The decisions are tricky!
This shawl or cozy is going to be lovely in the yarn you’re using. I agree, the stripes are going to be vertical. You would have to cast on the full length to get horizontal stripes.
The pattern shows the buttons at the beginning of the long edge although the Ravelry projects have placed them on various edges or even inside the edges. It’s up to you since you don’t need buttonholes. You can place them wherever or even change the placement as time goes by.
I think it would be fine as you’ve started it, but if you don’t like it, this seems an easy pattern to knit the other way.
How long it seems is totally going to depend on how you wear it. This is going to be quite stretchy and bias-y, and its length will change somewhat as it shifts a bit while you wear it. It’s going to be longer on the edge with buttons than on the folded edge, as the corners hang down more than just the straight edge…and that edge is actually twice the width of the folded edge!
To determine your lengthwise cast-on, measure from where you want it to hit on your arm, up the arm and along the shoulder to the front of your neck, where your collarbones make that little dip, and double it.
I am not understanding “folded edge” comments. I am not seeing where anything is folded. That’s one concern. I have decided it’s ok for the striping to be vertical. As far as the width, I have come to the difficult decision that I cast on too many. My son helped me by taking a towel and clipping to dimensions and holding it against me. (I know weird). Obviously a towel does not have any stretch like the knit piece has. So I am thinking to cast on 76+1, so 77. The 76 divisible by 2 so it should come out to 15inches. Boy, way too much math. So I plan to set what I’ve completed aside and start with new ball of yarn, cast on do a couple rows and measure against my shoulder and arm. Makes me cry to toss aside all I’ve done but I would be more upset to carry on and be totally unhappy at completion. Does my math make sense
Sounds like a good approach. It’s difficult to set work aside and begin again but when it all works out in the end, it’s worth the extra effort.
The fold in half lengthwise seems to be a mistake or at least open to misinterpretation. In many of the project photos, the shawl if folded across the width.
In the pattern photo you posted there is a bit that says, " this piece is rectangular in shape then folded in half lengthwise"
That’s what the fold comments refer to. The “lengthwise” is indeed confusing because the piece is worked side to side. The “length” part of lengthwise refers to the length, or longer side, of the rectangle rather than the length on the body.
For the new measurement, you’d get a much better idea if you held the current piece up to your body, where it will be worn, and mark the measurement in the knitted fabric, then count the rows.
Even better (in my opinion) to transfer the stitches onto a thread so that there is no needle or cable involved at all and allows the fabric to move properly. It’s like a big swatch, you could also be even more accurate by washing/blocking the large section you have (steam or damp cloths or soak then dry or whatever you usual do and with the care instruction in mind) and then draping it on yourself.
It sounds like hassle but the “real and washed” knitted fabric would give a more accurate idea of size rather than a few rows on a needle or even a calculation based on gauge because you’ll have the movement and stretch of the real thing on you.
I can’t tell you how much I’ve frogged. Huge swatches, I have at least 6 sweaters worth of frogged swatching , it’s awful at the time but quite freeing after it’s done and a restorative cup of tea.
Great suggestions. I had started with new ball of yarn but I didn’t rip out the previous. I put it on waste yarn, not really sure why, but since I had it, I did as suggested and tried to use it to measure and count back how many extra stitches I had. I think it came pretty close to what I had already decided. The open work of the stitch makes it a little hard but I think this will work. If not I won’t let it go so far before I start again but I’m hoping this it
Fingers crossed! Let us know how it’s going.