Audrey A-Long

Monkey Sleeves

Audrey, oh Audrey. Just when I thought things were working out so well with us, you had to go and break my heart.

Yes, I knew when I swatched for you that my row gauge was off. I knew that I should have reworked the pattern to take that into consideration. But I believed in you! We got through all of those crazy increases and decreases for your darts - twice! - and everything looked like it would be OK. The front and back turned out splendidly. Perhaps a little longer than intended, but still a nice length with a nice fit.

Because of that, I really didn't think the sleeves would be a problem. I'd noticed they were looking a little long, but because you hadn't failed me yet, I trusted that it would all work out. I trusted you, and what did I get in return? A sleeve so long I could make pants out of it with very little adjustment.

I mean, it's long enough for a pant leg now, and I've still got 20 or so rows to go! Obviously, it's not going to work as a sleeve. Unless I magically turn into an ape overnight or something.

I'm disappointed. And heartbroken. Now I need to not only frog nearly an entire sleeve, I need to go through and rework the pattern for my gauge. This is something I am not looking forward to. Not even a little. Especially when I have to backtrack so very far.

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That was a few days ago. Since then, I took a deep breath, kissed and made up with Audrey, and reworked the sleeve pattern for my row gauge. I ripped out my sleeve (or should I say "pant leg"?), rewound the yarn, took a deep breath, and cast on again.

I was incredibly nervous about it. I've never reworked a pattern before, and it just felt like it involved a lot of thinking and calculator usage. However, I'm making progress and so far, the sleeve is already looking less freakishly long. Whew.

Now I'm just going to knit away and mentally prepare myself for the possibility that I'm going to have to rip the front and back out because the sleeve shapings won't match up. Posted by Dawn at August 6, 2004 08:02 PM