St Brigid Finish (This post may have more knitting detail than some readers want.)

Quite a bit has happened in the almost 2 months since I posted the last update on the St Brigid jumper, but I am pleased to report it is finished!  

The lapel pin which can't be  read in the lead photo is one I bought back in April for just this purpose. It reflects my philosophy.  The knitting is pretty good, but it isn't perfect. The jumper, however is finished, warm, attractive and fit for purpose.

When I last posted I had begun the sleeve, which is designed as the back/front without the wide middle panel. It is knit from the cuff up, widening as you go. The increases eventually form another cable and then a moss stitch panel either side. When you reach the shoulder only the central cable continues to form a 'saddle' over the shoulder to the neck. It's clever and faster to knit than the front and back, mainly due to the absence of the complex central panel. 

I joined the sleeve to the back as soon as I finished it to make sure it fitted and to see how it worked before embarking on the front.

In my eagerness to finish the front, I miscounted the number of pattern repeats in the front, and stupidly began the neck decrease without measuring against the back. I got to the shoulder on one side before sensing something was wrong and measuring it. Nothing for it but to undo back to the neck division and add another pattern repeat.

A minor setback in the scheme of things, and soon rectified. 

Somehow the complexity of the cables made it really interesting to see each stage advance. I don't usually feel so excited by progress.

Once I had finishing the second sleeve, inserted it and began to knit the neck roll, I had an entirely preventable accident. 

I cut my right thumb quite badly on a mandolin. I hadn't used the mandolin for a number of years and stupidly got it out to use when a recipe suggested it, without remembering the food holder-cum-hand guard. The cut was painful and messy. I dressed it myself but had it checked out by my doctor which resulted in this bandage. After several days I could knit with the thumb upright and the needle between my thumb and forefinger. It was slow going, but not difficult.

I decided not to block the jumper unless the fit was not good enough. I really like the texture of the cables as they are and didn't want to interfere with that unless I needed to.

Brigid agreed - and it fits!  I don't usually put photos of family online, but I've managed to create one I'm happy to share. 

This has been such a satisfying project, and finished in time for the worst of our winter.

After all my early agonising about whether I'd have enough wool, I have two and a half balls left over! Maybe a hat or bag in the future?

St Brigid progress. Warning: a lot of knitting detail.

Since my last post I have made some progress, and further changes in my tools for this project.

First, I decided the plastic, grooved cable needles I was using were holding me back, so visited The Yarn Trader to buy some metal ones. I bought a pack of aluminium ones, and two steel ones, one slightly curved and one a J curve.   I'm now using the slight curve steel one.               

I've also changed my chart management. I removed the charts I now remember -  2 edges and 3 regular cables. 

That leaves the centre panel and a complex panel on either side. I taped these charts together, matching the rows, and placed them on a magnetic board, so I can mark the row. The board is a bit clumsy, but, with my row counter, keeps me on track.

It is certainly a complex pattern and requires quite sophisticated charting. I  finally worked out the logic of the symbolism used.

The vertical lines represent knit stitches on the right side, and the horizontal lines represent purl stitches. The bent lines represent cable direction. A line underneath signals cable needle in front of work. Line above signals cable needle to the back.The stitch symbol is the one you end up with, not the one you start with So, reading from right to left, the red circle marks an instruction to place two stitches on a cable needle in front of your work, purl one from the left hand needle, then knit the two from cable needle. The green marks an instruction to place two stitches on a cable needle at the back of your work, knit two from the left hand needle, then purl two from the cable needle. 

It made sense if I considered the stitch instruction as separate to the cable position instruction. There may be a better way of explaining it, but I am now able to read this from the chart without constantly looking up the codes. It is still slow knitting, but not as slow as it was. I finally did a bit of a search on knitting symbols, and found an equivalent symbol system on Stitch Maps. While other systems work on integrated symbols, this one works on using two separate symbol systems in combination. I'm relieved I worked it out.

Last night I finished the back. It is quite long - 65cm.

I am very pleased with it. It looks lovely.  At the top of the photo is the remainder of the fifth ball of wool - almost spot on my calculation.

I have now started on a sleeve. If that takes no more than 3 balls, I have enough.  I'm hopeful.

I have made up another chart for the sleeve. While it looks simpler, the instructions are more complex. As you add stitches to shape the sleeve, you need to adjust the pattern and charts. I'm taking it one step at a time.

I'm gaining in confidence and can now imagine it finished - which helps.

A start on St Brigid.

Last year I indulged in Alice Starmore's book Aran Knits  and enough of her wool to make the St Brigid's jumper for my eldest granddaughter.  When the wool arrived I bought a swift to wind the 19 skeins into balls. 

In the last fortnight, armed with my tin of stitch markers,  I have begun knitting it. I needed to clear the decks of other projects because I figured this would take all my time once started. I was right.

The pattern is worked from 5 charts.  On the back and front, every row uses all 5 charts, one repeated once, another twice, making 7 chart references in each row. Three charts cover 24 rows, the others less - so are repeated more.

After working through the charts once from the book, I decided to create a single chart. This helped. I may yet create a full 169 stitch x 24 row chart if the going gets tough

It was still slow going. The cables vary, and the symbols are not, to my mind, intuitive. It is difficult to keep track of where I am up to from memory alone, which is how I mostly work, choosing logical places to stop at the end of a session. The cables here are too complex for that, and 24 rows too long for one, or even two, long knitting sessions. Fortunately I had a line marker in my toolkit - bought at some stage just in case. In case is now.

I also dug out a row counter, again, something I have not needed to use before. It too has proved its worth. With the help of these tools, I have worked my way through 40 rows. It will, I know, become easier as I progress.

I was concerned that I would not have enough wool, and calculated that if I could get 40 rows out of one ball, I would be safe.  I got two thirds of the way through row 40, so think I should be OK. I will keep monitoring. The colour is still available, but I will hold my nerve a bit longer. 

For now, I'll stick to my knitting.