Not, as one might hope at this stage, the second sleeve, but the first one over again:

I was very near the top yesterday when I stopped to measure the width. It was not a measurement I had taken from the sweater Thomas sent me – I had to trust Jared (easy to do). And the answer was that the sleeve was going to be too tight by a couple of inches. I was getting nearly 6 sts to the inch instead of the 5 of my swatch.

Could that be because I was knitting the sleeve on 3.25 mm needles instead of the 3.75’s I swatched with? Why was I doing that?

After only the briefest of mental struggles, I frogged it and started again. If my knitting has improved at all in recent decades – and it has – it is because of a greater willingness to frog. If in doubt, take it out.

This has given me the chance to make a couple of minor changes. In the first draft, the increases and the sleeve length were going to finish with the same round. This time, I have put an extra 4 stitches into the cuff and am increasing every seventh round instead of every eighth. That should give me some wriggle room at the top, to adjust the length precisely and/or add extra stitches to the circumference if required. One wants one's wearer to be able to gesticulate in comfort.

The gauge seems to be right, this time. I’ll keep checking.

Sock-knitting

My sock-knitting is reserved for travel and waiting-rooms, and we have had very little of either recently. I have an eye appointment this afternoon, the annual check-up on my retinal vein occlusion of three years ago. I have just started the second of Rachel’s self-knitting KF socks – today should advance things a bit. Then, on the train and in London, I will press forward earnestly, hoping to finish. Rachel has small feet and likes short socks.

Next, I will start a pair of KF’s “hand-dye effect”, shade Rhubarb, for my husband. I decided this only last week. The yarn arrived yesterday, almost impossibly soon. 

It’s rather surprising to look at, sort of loose and fluffy-looking, not the brisk twist of the sock yarn I’m used to. You can sort of see what I mean in the picture. The people down at Regia know about socks so I’m not really worried, just surprised.

Yarn and colour

I spent quite a while yesterday, off and on, dipping in to Jimmy Bean’s madelinetosh dk page. Despite what I said yesterday about red, I find myself drawn to “Cosmos” and to “Smokey Orchid”. Or should I wait until they get a new delivery, which I think will be soon? They’re low on quite a few shades.

My sister is making only a brief trip to Britain and hopes to be able to do it with hand-luggage-only, which rather rules out a sweater’s worth of yarn. I’ll just bite the bullet and pay the tax, bearing in mind what you said yesterday, Helen C.K.S.