Sweatrrr Shoulders

Following the giant gauge swatch and technique practise, I did manage to find time this week  to start Sweatrrr.  There were a few Christmas parties  - book club, then knit group and now both  Saturday and Sunday, set aside for  family events - that have deterred me from great  progress.

But here I am so far.

The back neck and three of four shoulder portions finished.  The left front &  back shoulders plus the right back shoulder are done.  Just the right front to do.

Will it fit?  Time will tell. 

This pattern has terminology and methodology that is totally foreign to me.  Terms like Sl1 followed by a dunce cap accent was one I had never seen before.

It means to pull the stitch tightly over the needle until the two legs of the stitch are almost on top of the needle.  It is a method of short-rowing that in my little opinion could have been more simply described.

Once I have the fourth and final shoulder part finished, I think I might try it on to see if I have correctly estimated the  number of stitches to cover the distance across my shoulders. It is important to me that the sleeve/shoulder 'seam' sit precisely on the shoulder bump.  That to me is a perfect-fitting set-in-sleeve.  I am not a big fan of set-in-sleeves.  To me they make the back look too square, too masculine, too football uniform-ish.  I much prefer raglan sleeves.

You know where this is leading, don't you!  If those seams are not exactly where I want them, I will have to rip back of course.   And if I rip back, - why not make a top down raglan?  Of course I did want to try Tricosa's take on Suzie M's contiguous method for knitting a sweater all in one piece, top down, with set-in-sleeves.

When I knit Colour Block,  I developed my own  combo pattern,   combining Suzie M's  and Ann Budd's methods of top-down, set-in-sleeve construction.  Asa Tricosa seems to have come up with yet another method.  Always intrigued by new methodology  I thought I'd give it a go. 

But my measure of greatness always includes easy.  So far, while the knitting of Sweatrrr isn't difficult, reading and understanding the pattern sure doesn't fall under the easy column.

I really like Asa's design features in this sweater.  The columns of different stitches and different colours down both the centre front and back and the  giant triangle of contrast colour in the sleeve.  I will give the Tricosa Technique of neck/shoulder/set-in-sleeve construction a fair try.  But I'm not afraid to deviate if I am not having fun.

Have a great winter-y weekend everyone.  Safe travels if you are on the road.