Friday, June 08, 2012

Short Row Shaping Nightmare

I have been working on this project for the past 1 month but have not been totally happy with the short row shaping on the fronts.

There are 2 sets of shaping on the fronts & when I started the 1st set, I thought that the wraps that I was picking on the purl side do not look right on the knit (right) side. The stitches were twisted & I tried several ways to pick up the wraps so that they look right but it did not worked.

I carried on knitting hoping that the stitches will look right after blocking. So after finishing the front & before I cast off, I decided to try it on.

I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the fronts & how horrible the short row shaping looked .......
.... you can see the ugly SRs on the right of the picture & those on the left are almost invisible. Take another look ..
I don't think I can live with this. I kept looking at the cardigan hoping that the SRs will disappear or I could become accustomed to them but I just could not.

So with a heavy heart, I ripped it back to the armhole .....
I knitted a swatch & re-read the instructions on SR shaping on the pattern & then realised that I wrapped my yarn the wrong way on the purl row & when I picked up the wrap & purled them together, the stitches were twisted. I felt like banding my head against the wall when I discovered my stupid mistake.

I practised on my swatch & the SRs look fantastic, almost invisible & I also found this great resource online.

Well, I am back to starting the SR shaping & my one consolation is that the yarn is so lovely to knit with, so soft & smooth - Colormart 3/15 Cashmere Cotton, my favorite yarn at the moment & I had ordered more for another project.

4 comments:

Michelle Lee said...

Oooh!!! I've been eyeing on this pattern for awhile now. Must get tips from when I CO for this :)

Roseann said...

I feel so badly for how much you had to rip back of your pretty sweater! If it is any consolation, I appreciated the wisdom you have shared with us and the link, so you have saved many of us from a similar fate. I look forward to seeing you model this lovely sweater!

Melita said...

Ahhh that link is awesome at explaining it. I can see it when I'm knitting them, but I can't explain it so clearly to someone else. I'm really glad you've found a solution, because I know you were unhappy with the first result. This will be awesome when done. :)

2paw said...

I am so glad you found out what was happening, I can seethe short rows and it must have been SO annoying!! Bet you are happy now!