Autumn Fair With A Side Of ---??

Autumn Fair is the main thing on my knitting plate at the moment, but there is a little side dish.  This sweater. 

From this book

 

The sweater has no name - just a number.  I am going to call Ruching.  Ruching, as in rhymes with, wooshing.  A pleating or gathering of the fabric.  In this case along the front edges.


Ruching is primarily a boring knit.  Straight stockinet sleeves. Straight stockinet back.  Straight stockinet fronts each with just a few decorative rows of ruching on the upper bodice.

What's a busy knitter to do when faced with so many stockinet stitches?  Get out the machine of course.  I did the gauge swatch and then the math because natch, my gauge is not the same as the pattern gauge. That would be way too easy.

And I have one sleeve finished and sewn together

 

and the second sleeve finished but not yet sewn. 

 

Next up will be the back.  Finally the fronts.   I have yet  to decide if I can manipulate  the stitches effectively enough to do the ruching on the machine.  If not, the fronts will be 'fusion' knitting.  Bottom portions up to the ruching will be on the machine, then ruching to the tops will be by hand. 

Either way, it is nice to have a little something on the side.