C is also for Conversation. And CRAAAAAAAP!!!!
I went to the lovely sit-n-knit at Purls of Wisdom yesterday. I took my equally lovely Bed Jacket/Gown from Romantic Knits. I've been loving this project and the yarn I'm using (Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece). I did the back which starts on the bottom goes up the back and grows the arms with a bunch of cast-on increases. Then you do the fronts. I started with the right front which (like the left front) has that wicked, evil "at the same time" instructions. I am undaunted. I chart the shenanigans out and plow ahead. I finish all the increases and decreases at the same time and am very happy! Now the instructions say to keep knitting in pattern until the front matches the back. I do so.
Then I reread it. No - not til it matches the back. Until it matches the last of the shaping (increases to create the arms) for the back. hmmmm. Wish they'd've told me that ahead of time - I would've marked that particular spot on the back. I ask Jen (the shop owner) for her opinion of these cryptic instructions. She still can't visualize what I'm even doing so I lay it on the floor and show her how it's supposed to be. Then a hush falls over the room of knitters as we all see it.
The front of the sleeve is about 3" shorter then the back of the sleeve.
We try to finagle it to work but there is no such luck. We had to pull out about 6" (or roughly a week's worth of knitting on this thing)! Jen was kind enough to put it back on the needles for me. I didn't want to have to tink back that far but didn't feel confident I could rip and return to the needles with all the stitches where they're supposed to be since there's a stitch pattern.
The stupid thing about the pattern is that the stitch pattern repeats are left to right but the construction of the piece is bottom to top. And the cruel thing about the pattern is that for the back, they tell you how many increases to make and then you should have [X] number of stitches, then you should knit in pattern for [Y] number of rows. For the left and right fronts - you're just on your own! "Knit the increases and at the same time the decreases on the neck edge - when you're done with that, keep knitting in pattern until the front matches the beginning of the back shaping" WTF?? What happened to the stitch count? Where'd the row count go??? Did the deadline for this pattern sneak up on the designer and she just threw us under the bus so she could finish it? We hates her right now.
The Bed Jacket is in time out.
I need a drink, Ruth!
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7 comments:
Here's the thing- some blogs I skim, others I read every sentence. I read every sentence of yours. I hate that pattern. It makes my head hurt.
Ruth, you should e-mail Annie Modesitt with your question. She is truly a lovely person and would never intentionally write an unintelligible pattern. I don't have her e-mail address but you could contact her through her blog, http://www.modeknit.com/.
Good luck!
Awwww....nuts! That stinks. Time out until you love it again.
Ack!
Whoa- that is a seriously whacked pattern, Now I know to avoid that one.I liked how it looked but, fugedaboudit!
Thanks, kmkat, but it's not an Annie pattern. I don't think she would ever do that to us! It's Jennie Atkinson. And we don't really hates her - just this pattern!
Oh, man. That truly sucks. I've had that pattern on my list for a while, but every time I look at it, I think, "Ugh. Too much trouble." Part of that is all the seaming to put on the edging (sorry to remind you). Now I have another reason. Good luck. It does make a beautiful finished garment, and I'm with you about the Cotton Fleece--one of my favorites.
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