Friday, November 24, 2006

Progress!


Chugging right along here - I have just cast on for the left front. As this is my first design project, I was expecting much more angst, but so far the pattern (generated with the help of a wonderful freeware program that does most of the calculating for you), is coming out looking about the right size.

The one set-back I had was when I realized, after knitting the right front for the first time, that the program had adjusted the number of stitches to make the lace pattern fit exactly. The problem is that it had increased the back by three stitches, but decreased the width of each front by three stitches, meaning a nine-stitch discrepancy - almost a whole pattern repeat. Thinking of the disaster that lay in wait (blocking can only go so far!), I ripped out the front and adjusted all of the stitch counts back to their original numbers, and juggled the lace around a little bit to centre it before re-starting it. It just goes to show that common sense is usually better than a computer algorithm. Although I don't think I would have taken the time to tackle this is I had to do it all with pen and paper.

I'm still not sure if the yarn supply is going to hold out for 3/4 sleeves, so I think I will knit the neck and button bands first, and then see how it goes.

3 comments:

Lynn said...

Wow, this is going to be so pretty when it's done! I agree: computers are wonderful tools *and* they are no substitution for inspiration and common sense.

Laura said...

Your sweater is looking great! Good thing you thought about your knitting, and didn't blindly follow your generated pattern. LOL Woohoo!

BTW, where'd you find that online sweater calculator? I'd like to try it.

Kelly said...

The program I used is called Knitware Sweaters 2.5, and you can download a free trial version at http://www.greatknitdesigns.com/desc.htm

I think I may buy the full version, which apparently has a lot more capabilities. But the free version is great for simple sweaters, with lots of style options, and letting you manually change any of the finished dimensions.