Kitty Kat Cardy Update: I’ve been dealing with some contrasting impulses this week. On one hand, the cardy bodice could look really cute as a vest. But do I wear vests? Not really. On the other hand, knitting long sleeves in the next ten days is going to kill me. Then last night I had a brainstorm: I could put short sleeves on it! And not just any short sleeves – PUFFY SLEEVES. Yes, that’s going to push the whole thing so far over the cliff into the Land of Twee that the world might implode. But I don’t care! It’s already going to have EMBROIDERED KITTY FACES on it! I think we may even be venturing into Alannah Hill territory here! Maybe I can sell the design to her for next year’s collection! The very concept of puffy sleeves is making me CRAZY!
But yeah, they’re tricky to knit. Bex gave me some helpful advice and I’ve filled several pages with scribbled calculations tonight. But it just might work…
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Not related at all, but keep some room in your bags for electronics if you need anything from Apple. Dave got an offer yesterday & he starts the 19th. Yippee!! And why did he apply? The discount factored in just a little. 🙂
WHAT? NO WAY! That seriously rocks.
Puffy…sleeves… . Cute overload. I’ll reserve judgement until I see if I mean that in a good way or not. 🙂
YAY!!!! I
Okay, Bex, here’s what I’ve done so far. See if this sounds right:
I measured around my arm and then multiplied by my gauge to get how many stitches to cast on. And guess what? I was only TWO stitches off the number that the pattern wanted you to have at the underarm! Yay for gauge! So I did a little moss stitch band to match the rest of the cardy. Then I put markers about three inches on either side, to mark where I *didn’t* want the increases to go. Then I increased every other stitch between the markers, and then on the next row every third stitch. I ended up just about doubling the number of stitches. So now I’m going in plain stocking stitch for about an inch, just for sleeve length. (I compared to one of my puffy sleeve T-shirts.)
Okay, so now for the tricky bit. From a meticulous reading of the pattern, I’ve worked out that the sleeve cap is 65 rows high. So once I start the cap, I’ve got 65 rows to get rid of all the extra stitches I put in, right? (Which is about 85, if I recall correctly.) But here’s the thing: Should I space the decreases out evenly over the whole sleeve cap, or do them all more close to the top? If I’m understanding the mechanics of this correctly, spacing them out will give me more of a bell-shaped sleeve, with fullness at the bottom that gradually decreases towards the top. Doing the decreases closer together at the top should give maximum puff, right?
Argh *reaches for another V drink*
I would agree with you on that – increase the amount of decreases closer to the top.
It might take you a couple of gos to get it right but it should work. Went through all my patterns last night and couldnt find any cap sleeves (and the Swan Lake from IK was a pleated sleeve top, not a fitted on).
Can you ‘accidentally’ find a pattern at TC that has cap sleeves?
hang on – gonna send you another pic, had a thought