a Tale of Two Sleeves
Most people I know who LOVE to knit sweaters HATE to knit sleeves! For me, it signals the stage in the project when the Honeymoon is over and when Marital Counseling might become necessary…
This time around on 2 of my WIPs, I’m trying something different. On 2 different sweaters, I have two seperate sleeves on the needles. One is the Shazam Cardi and the Other is a Ribby. When I get tired of one, I switch to the other and WOOT! It’s (sortof) cured my 7-year Itch, to borrow a phrase…
I thought for those of you who are knitting the Ribby as your first sweater, you might enjoy seeing a little comparison.
WHAT’s UP with those Ribby Sleeves?YUP! They’re really skinny! That’s because the ribbed pattern wants to scrunch itself all up when it’s in a relaxed, unworn, position. You can’t see any of the hills and valleys of the rib – which is weird! It almost looks like bumpy Stockinette st.
It also looks alot smaller than the non-ribbed sleeve.
But now the FUN happens – you just love FUN don’t you!?If you slighty stretch the Ribby sleeve, you see that it is the same size as a normal, non-ribbed sleeve. WHEW!
Now I understand why some people on the #66 think I’m knitting a scarf when I’m wailing away on my commute!
aaaah! *sigh* glad to know about those ribby sleeves. i started to question my gauge swatch last night!
Hmmmmm. Now, one of the methods I sometimes use to “suck in the fabric” on sweaters, especially if I want to pull in the area around the waist, is to use cables. But on your cabled sleeve, that doesn’t seem to be producing the same effect. Ribbing is ribbing — but I find that doing ribbing that is, say, 3 knit and 2 purls pulls in a LOT more than a 2×2 ribbing. But how come your sleeve isn’t pulling in — different size needle? Different size yarn? Now, I’m confused.
i’m working on my Ribby Cardi sleeves too, and i can’t count all the times i’ve stopped to drape & pinch around my arm to confirm they’re going to be big enough!
It looks wonderful! P.S. Just to let you know, I’ve printed off your “How to Block Anything” and I am going to try it out on the LoTech Sweat I’m making for my DSIL. That, and I have some towels to wash… :-)
I love to block with damp towels!
Hey Toby – I dig that same effect with the cables! I think the reason my Shazam sleeve doesn’t pull in is because of the Hefty Density of the wool spun yarn I’m making it out of.
Ah, a nice alternative to breaking the monotony of knitting sleeves. Lately I’ve been knitting them first, to get them over with. But switching them with something else justifies another work in progress. I like :-)
Sometimes I use extra needles and keep a sleeve going while working on the sweater. The sleeves can go with me as commuter knitting and the entire project comes together at the end. I think I learned this from an EZ book where she counsels her readers to keep a sleeve in a basket near the phone.