one sleeve closer to victory

after 2 horribly frustrating attempts to get the perfect set-in sleeve (1st attempt - following the pattern, 2nd attempt - tearing out some length and trying to fudge it into an acceptable fit) i knew i needed to take drastic measures. if i didn't, i knew i'd be eternally unhappy with 'settling' for something less than great. so i've taken a completely new approach and come up with a solution that pleases me:


graciously modelled by my short-armed roommate

i tore the entire cap out, burned the pattern specifications and took the top-down route (are you seeing a pattern here?). this is the first time i've knit a set-in sleeve (cap) top down, and definitely not the last. it worked perfectly and was interesting enough to get me excited about knitting on jarrett again (now lets see if its interesting enough to keep me motivated to do sleeve #2 in a timely fashion...).


grafting top-down cap with live stitches of knitted sleeve

a quick explanation - first i picked up stitches around the armhole, working short rows to shape the cap until i was ready to attatch the pre-existing sleeve, which had been torn down to the armhole and had live stitches waiting for me to graft them onto the new cap. grafting wasn't wildly exciting, but i love the results.

we'll see if i can get myself to do it all over again on the second sleeve this weekend. mind you, the second sleeve has already been seamed in with pre-existing (flawed) cap. it means ripping a lot more than i may have patience for, but i'll probably at least start it tonight.

[this weekend-post brought to you by my apartment's internet connection which was finally restored by time-warner this afternoon (after extensive amounts of phone harrassment)]