Red Dead Re-Do

In school I was always good at math. I didn’t particularly like the class, but I understood it. That makes it extra embarrassing when I continually get “easy” equations wrong during fiber art endeavors. As you can see from the photo above, I was about 5″ into the piece before I realized my mistake.

To figure out how many stitches I need to cast on, I figure out how many inches across I need the piece to be, then multiply by number of stitches per inch. In the case of the sweater I’m trying to make, the measurement I took was the circumference of my partner’s waist (because I’m making it for him). I started with the back panel. It will go halfway around, so I need it to be half of the circumference. I divided the circumference by 2, multiplied by the number of stitches per inch (5 according to my gauge swatch)… and then I forgot I had already divided by 2 and did it again. Whoops.

I did briefly consider continuing on and making the piece one of the front panels, but the design will be easier overall starting from the back, I think. Besides, I’d already plotted out the full shape of the back and the sides will be slightly more complex, and quite possibly thinner than half of the back.

I did the hard thing and I frogged it. Having started over, I’m now confident that the sizing is right, and I’ve now passed 14 inches in length. The size I’m making is for a men’s large, so I’ll be decreasing for the sleeve attachments once I reach 20 inches.

This pattern uses Brava Bulky yarn from Knit Picks and We Crochet.