Knit On

I love working on my lace cardigan. It's fun to see the pattern emerge. I'd read other knit blogs that said 'the lace pattern was easy to memorize' and I wondered how that was possible with row after row of stitch changes, but with lots of knitting, I have memorized this pattern.

I'm trying to make the sweater to fit me so when it came to the length I went to Ravelry and checked the Derica Kane project page. Several knitters said the lace grew a lot when they blocked it and that getting gauge in straight stitch, as recommended in the pattern, didn't help. I emailed one of the knitters and asked what she suggested. "Make a swatch in pattern, measure before and after blocking." Of course!

The knitting expanded and the lace really opened up, beautiful. Once I did that I could figure how much length I was going to gain with blocking and adjust the pattern's dimensions accordingly.

Then I knit the sleeve using two circulars instead of dpns. That was new to me and much easier to work with; no ladder stitches at the intersections either. I also liked that I could try it on as I went. I had a brain wave and realized I could steam block it while it was still on the needles, that way I got just the sleeve length I wanted. Woot! I love learning helpful hints and new methods.