Making our own clothes means we get to create bespoke pieces that fit our bodies just the way we want. I find this process to be empowering, and an act of resistance all on its own. That said, this often means having to adjust patterns and sometimes, it means re-knitting pieces when we get an unexpected result.
When swatching for a project, it’s important to swatch flat for projects knit flat, and in the round for projects worked in the round. Our gauge can differ, because when we work stockinette flat, it involves both knit and purl rows. Stockinette in the round is all knit rows. There is a slight difference in the amount of yarn used in creating a knit stitch versus a purl stitch because of how we wrap the yarn to create them (yes, even though it’s just the same stitch backwards). So this means that we can see a gauge difference in a cardigan when we are working the body flat, and the sleeves in the round.
When working my Comfort Fade cardigan, I first worked my sleeves as written and ended up with sleeves that didn’t fit right, and it’s because of my gauge difference between flat and in the round. Switching to in the round for the sleeves made my row gauge looser. Instead of having 8 decrease rounds total as written in the pattern, I ended up with 6 decrease rounds by the time I reached the 15.5” sleeve length called for. I decided to go with this and knit my cuff, only to find in the end I wasn’t happy with the fit. This cardigan is intended to fit with little ease on the sleeves, and this left me with very baggy sleeves past the elbow.
This is one of those moments where I had to remind myself of the joys of handmade clothing and slow stitching. I could either leave the first sleeve as is, knit the second to match, and spend years being cranky every time I put on this sweater that the sleeves didn’t fit quite right. (and yes, I’d be unhappy every. single. time. I wore it, like with the pair of socks I fudged back in 2014, I still haven’t forgiven those socks)
So I decided to rip the sleeves out and recalculate the decreases - and I’m sharing the process so it can help some of you along the way too!
My original sleeve had:
6 decrease rounds every 17 rounds, plus 3 more rounds to reach 15.5”.
The cuff added an extra 3.75” for a total sleeve length of 19.25”.
That makes a total of 105 rounds, at a gauge of 27 rounds = 4” (pattern) gauge was 32 rounds = 4”
Since I was modifying the sleeve anyway, I decided to take out an inch in total length.
My new sleeve had the following parameters:
18.25” total length, with a 3.75” cuff.
14.5” before the cuff to accommodate 8 decrease rounds. I actually decided to add 2 more decrease rounds for a total of 10, to remove a bit extra ease along my forearm.
At 27 rounds = 4”, 14.5” of length gives me 98 rounds to accommodate 10 decrease rounds
98 rounds divided by 10 is 9.8 rounds. I rounded down to 9 rounds.
My new sleeve will be knit as follows:
Decrease every 9 rounds a total of 10 times (90 rounds worked)
Knit 8 more rounds even, for a total of 98 rounds worked before starting my cuff.
So I’m going to take deep breath, sip my Queen of Wands tea, and remind myself that I love knitting, and it’s totally okay to spend another week reknitting this sleeve. Now time to rip out the original sleeve….
Pattern: Comfort Fade Cardi by Andrea Mowry
Yarn: La Bien Aimee Merino DK
