After much knitting, I was able to complete the front of the Caledonia Jumper over the weekend. I’ve been knitting so rigorously that my right arm is a bit sore. Well, my pseudo-injury is either from knitting or it’s that my new computer mouse isn’t agreeing with me. It’s hard to say for sure…. :)
Either way, I’m happy I was able to finish the front of my knitted jumper ahead of schedule. Here it is pre-blocked.
(The button holes are underneath the center front band.) I also wasn’t precisely sure how large the waist-ribbing should be blocked to, but I figured it’ll stretch either way. The other thing that’s bothering me about this is that it seems a bit larger on the right side than it does the left, but I’m positive I have the same number of stitches. I’m hoping that issue will sort itself out once I block it.
Modifications: I’ve reduced the lower body portion 1” (above the waist ribbing, but below the button band), and I’ve also reduced the upper body portion by approximately 1” (or 10 rows) throughout the armhole shaping. This is normally a risky thing to do, but from my sewing experience, the armholes on 40’s garments tend to be too large for me, so I thought it would be safe to reduce the armholes a bit.
While working through this jumper, I was humored by the fact that I found an error in the pattern. The pattern dictates that there are to be 6 button holes every 14 rows, but while doing the math their knitting instructions would have given me 7.5 button holes instead. I’m glad I had to alter the buttonhole area (with my 1” reduction) otherwise I’m not sure I would have caught this mistake. So in the off chance any of you end up knitting this little jumper, please take note of this.
The sweaters that I’ve knitted (to date) have all been in the round, so I have always been able to try on the sweater as I go in order to assess if I have to make any modifications to the shape of the garment. This jumper is completely different; all of the pieces are knitted then sewn together. So truthfully, I have no idea how this sweater is going to fit. I know I technically made it to fit my bust measurement, but I made a conscious decision to follow the pattern shaping, since I’ve never knitted up a vintage pattern before.
The shape of the jumper is in a classic V, but I’m more of a pear/hourglass shape myself. I’m hoping that since this sweater is so short, coupled with the fact that it has all the ribbing at the waistline, I should be safe. Plus I’ve never worn a V-shaped knit, so I wanted to try it out. It’ll also give me a better idea how I want to shape my next vintage jumper: the Briar Rose KAL with By Gum, by Golly. She also has a really nice post about how to re-shape your knitted pattern that I’m going to have to read through in more detail.
I’m currently working on my sleeves now, but found I won’t have enough yarn for the second one. Major DRATS! I’m hoping I can find more online or at my LYS (local yarn store) where I bought it. So I’m pretty glad I’m ahead of schedule by a few days so that I can use the ‘extra’ time to locate some more yarn. Wish me luck!
In: Knitting
