(I'm talking about my Architectural Rib Sweater, by the way).
First I decided that the pushmi-pullyu thing with both sleeve yarns being migrated from one sleeve to the second really wasn't working well, creating tangles to rival intarsia (since we have this circular thing going with sleeves in the round, not to mention the twisting so as to avoid holes at yarn changes), but because there were no ends to work with, impossible to untangle. So cuttage had to occur, after which things went swimmingly.
Since I was cutting the yarn anyway, it seemed sensible to include my new extra skein in the striping scheme of things, thus avoiding the decision regarding long cuff versus sudden colour change. The good news is that even with a fifty percent increase in the stripe cycle, the change is not obvious.
The stitch count on the current sleeve hit what seemed to be a reasonable number, so I ripped back the first sleeve and proceeded to match it to what I'd just done, except, except. There's a sort of bulgy bubble on one side seam, caused by a too-rapid bind-off of underarm stitches, so I thought it might be prudent, before finishing the sweater, to actually do a row count and stitch count (both approximate, though more accurate than "Hmmm, they look about the same") which made me a little nervous because the two sides differed by a number greater than my comfort level (which is probably about 5%).
The deciding test was to try it on, and I have to say, the fit was a horrible disappointment. Way too much fabric under the arms, too wide across the bust, all of which causes the top part to scrunch up around the neck instead of spreading nicely across the shoulders. I did some creative pinching (of the sweater, not of myself; that would be useless not to mention painful) and realised that the bust darts would be hugely improved by a much more rapid rate of decrease along the top edge (they are formed by a double decrease every fourth row), which I think would improve the neck-shoulder problem, and the rate of side seam bind-off could also be a bit faster, reducing overall width across the bust. Both changes would cause the armhole to be closer to the body, thus increasing the length of the under-sleeve seam (which isn't technically a seam if you knit in the round as I do, but is a usefully descriptive measurement anywayy) which would require a slower rate of sleeve decrease.
All this means that I have to rip out ALL the side portions, probably back to a row or two after the initial pickup, which is a relief, because picking up all those stitches took forever.
It also means that I won't have a new sweater by the weekend, but I think I can live with that.
On the other hand, I did get my new earrings listed in my Etsy shop, and completed a new bracelet too.
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