The Knitting Fiend

I’m happy with how this looks, but the shoulders are about 1 1/2″ too wide. I know because the “Jumping Stag” Sweater I knit Jim over 20 years ago fits his shoulders perfectly.

I’ll be ripping back a bit.

Some might wonder: “Why didn’t you knit a good gauge swatch and calculate correctly?” The answer is: because this is an Aran sweater. I did knit a more or less ok 5 1/2″ wide gauge swatch using the stitch pattern for the central panel. I calculated a gauge and used that to determine I needed about 96 stitches for the shoulders. However, because the other panels have different types and frequencies of cable crossing, it turns out their gauge is wider; enough wider to result in noticeably wider shoulders.

I knew this might happen. So, I’d sort of expected to rip back, and it turns out I do have to rip back. I’ll be picking up 88 stitches and re-knitting.

Now, I’m sure everyone has been tempted to not rip back from time to time. It seems like more work and who wants that? But, think about this. If I continue knitting with the 1 1/2″ extra width (about 8 stitches), I’ll knit 8 extra stitches every row down to the bottom of the armholes. Then, I’ll replicate the extra width on the sweater front. You can do the math, but let me assure you that’s more extra knitting than the bit I’ve already knit!

Because this bit is too big, ripping will save me time, yarn and result in a sweater that fits. That will be my mantra as I rip. Yes. It will.