Sleeve: Cast Off

How determined was I to get the sleeve finished?
This arrived Monday, and I only spun on it for an hour.

Since then, I tried several things, including knitting on as if nothing bothered me, but the next twelve rows of the darkest red held up to the body forced me to reevaluate.  It was just too dramatic a contrast.  Good for some people, not so much for me, because -- you may be surprised to know this, especially if you know me at all -- when it comes to the knitting, I am conservative.  Dramatic sartorial leaps of faith are not appealing to me.  Even when I was a club kid in the 80's, I dressed in vintage cocktail dresses and red lipstick, and thought I was as close to my edge as I dared venture.

There was that one haircut . . . but I was living in London, it was 1984, and it was for a hair show. Sorry: no pictures survive.

But I am in danger of digression.

So I pulled out my Flyingdales, since it is constructed in a similar fashion to the PS136 cardigan (straight sleeve top, dropped shoulder), and laid it out on the floor, spread the pieces of the sweater on top of it and decided that it all matched up pretty well lengthwise without the dark red addition to the sleeve.  I ripped back, and cast off. 

If wristers are in my future, then so be it. They are pretty nice.

Comments

[benedetta]

well done! i'd have done the same, the wristlets are beautiful!
also, very jealous here: still 18 rows away from the end of China Cloud...

[ErickaJo]

Victoria... this is, without a doubt, my next wheel. I am now convinced of your dedication to the sleeve. I'd lock myself in a room with bottled water and power bars, and that sweet, beautiful wheel.

[PumpkinMama]

You little min - picking up another wheel. Pretty please bring it for show and tell next week? Its one I've been wanting to try out....

[PumpkinMama]

Ummm - that should read "you little minx" ;-)

[Mrs. Brooke]

I just discovered your blog...you do beautiful work! I'm looking forward to how this is all going to turn out!

[Beth S.]

Oh my goodness, it's a Victoria!... Hooray! I hope you love it. :-) Please let us know how it compares to the Joy; I've been wondering about that.

And there are plenty of beautiful beaded wristwarmer patterns out there, and we know how you are with the beads... ;-)

[Tonia]

Wow you showed some serious restraint only spinning for an hour.

The sleeve looks wonderful. I am sure that it will all be fine since it was measured against another sweater of similar construction.

[Kathleen]

You already tore out the sleeve and bound off the sts, so this is sort of moot- but you could (if you decide to try again with the lengthening), rip to the top of the final full flower repeat, switch to the pattern on the body of the sweater. That would *match* colorwise. Of course, the finished sweater wouldn't look like the pattern picture, but the change would look fine, I think.

[Wanda]

Yay, you are done with the sleeve! If you're good with it, then so be it. New spinning wheel, eh? You'll be a busy, busy bee.

[mamacate]

Ooh, fun toy!

Drop sleeves will fool you every time. Smart you finding another one to measure. Fingers (and wrists) crossed.

[Dava]

How many wheels do you have? Is an intervention eminent?

[Kathy]

Good plan. And, hey, those wrist warmers looks pretty nice, so worst case scenario. Use the new wheel well!

[janet]

Great idea to compare to another well-fitting sleeve. I really like those wristers though. They'd be nice even if not necessary.

[Christie]

It's going to be perfect, gorgeous and wonderful! Whoo hoo to the cast off!

[Lucia]

Hair show?

[Ruth]

A knitter's gotta do what a knitter's gotta do.

[joanne]

I got the Victoria about 1 month ago and I had a tough time getting use to it let me know what you think. I had to really tighten the tension in order to get my fiber to wind on to my bobbin. If you discover any helpful hints let me know. My other wheel is a Ashford Trational single treadle and I love her.

[jessie]

I am so behind on blogs it's not funny. I love the bag you're working on. As for sweater sleeves, I'm right there with you. I'm not tall (5'6") but I have freakishly long arms and legs. Think Kermit the Frog. Can't buy "tall" sizes for tops because my torso is very short and things hang.

But anyway.

Good luck with the second sleeve. I hope it works out lengthwise and if, not, you can always rip and add on after all, right? (Or stick the whole sweater in the closet for several years, as I would do.)