Friday, July 12, 2013

Diamond Rib Dress

Hmm... I wonder if I should rip out the back neck?
Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/sanjou/diamond-rib-dress
Yarn: Araucania Ranco Solid. It's a beautiful yarn that doesn't feel too special when you're knitting it up, but it softens up after a gentle wash. I used the felted join whenever I had to join together yarn ends and it worked really well, so although the swatch came out of the washing machine fine (I never handwash, and put all my knits on a cold knits/delicates cycle), I'm a touch worried about whether my dress will felt when washed.
Needles: 2.5mm (after joining sleeves and body together) & 3mm circular needles (the body and sleeves up to the join)
Gauge (over pattern): 34 sts x 24 rows = 4" x 4" (I get the feeling my row gauge is incorrect here, but it doesn't matter too much)

Notes
It's all on ravelry, more or less.
For a brief summary of what happened, though:

  • Gauge was more or less spot on, so I cast on the body in the smallest size
  • I cast on the sleeves in the same size and, comparing the sleeve measurements on the schematic to my actual arm length, simply knit to my arm length instead of trusting the pattern - stupid mistake.
    • It was too short, because when the knitted fabric was stretched over my arm, the length decreased, too! Even worse, I only noticed this after I "finished" knitting the second sleeve due to my (clearly unfounded) self-confidence.
    • The sleeves were also too tight! I could wriggle them on with lots of tugging at the top of the sleeve that I wouldn't be able to do if they were attached to the body of the dress.
    • Both sleeves were frogged and reknit to a more comfortable size and correct length.
  • Back neck was raised using a few short rows (completely winged it)


Reknitted
Overall I'm quite satisfied with this dress. The Ranco colour is just lovely - so vivid! - and it doesn't feel itchy against my skin. I raised the back neck using short rows and it isn't too noticeable when worn, but when the dress lies flat, it's very clear that I did one or two rows too many (there's a sort of hill-like form that is the back neck). The sleeves also feel like they could use a stitch or two more, but then the pattern might not stretch out as much.

Those are the only gripes I have with this dress. Definitely something I'm proud of! Now I just have to wait for winter to come...

Maybe I can just leave it and no one will notice


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