Darcy Deluxed

Ok, so I knit 2 sweaters in one month, so what? It's kind of a stressful time - it's either eat or knit - and while I've kind of been doing a combination of both - I've definitely favored the knitting.

So, this is Mrs. Darcy from Rambings of an Obsessive Knitter. The pattern is written for a size 34, which I am not, and even with a plunging neckline, my girls need more room. So, I did the follow to make it work:

1. I added an extra four inches, casting on an additional 8 stitches in the back, and four stitches to each side.

2. I knit in one piece to the armhole, adding fake seams with a purl stitch between each front and the back.

3. At the armhole, I put nine stitches on a holder, four from the back, four from each front, with the purl seam stitch in the center. I made the armhole roughly 2 inches longer - adding an additional 10 rows. As I did each section, I didn’t bind off, but rather put my stitches on a holder to do a three needle bind off.

4. Once the shoulders were joined via three needle bind off, I picked up around the armhole for the sleeve, plus the 9 stitches on a holder, for a total of 64 stitches + the purl seam stitch. I then knit 5 inches straight, and then started decreasing on each side of my purl seam every five rows until I hit 42 stitches + the purl seam stitch. Then, I knit a few inches straight, and did the ribbed cuff.
No sewing, sweet!

So, it took me so long to post a picture, even though it's been done for a few days, because the first set of pictures really looked horrendous. Mr. Tall and I went on the deck, to photograph Mrs. Darcy among my flower box garden. I thought she'd look great next to my killer petunia. Unfortunately, the white button down shirt I was wearing underneath was all crookedy, and my buxom looked GIGANTIC. After I saw the pictures, I asked Mr. Tall why he didn't tell me me shirt was askew, and he said, there was nothing wrong with the shirt, I was just popping out of the whole thing. Huh. But then I put the black t-shirt on this morning, and demonstrated that its suppposed to look like I'm popping out of the plunging neckline, but my shirt all fackokted was the problem with the original shoot. In any event, it's not the most flattering thing I've ever knit, but with the right shirt underneath, it's actually much better than it photographs.

Now, I'm kind of back to the Starmore. I took it to knitting circle on Wednesday, got my bearings, and figured out where I was in the pattern again. I counted stitches between markers . . . and counted again - and then had Magda count for me - and I missed the 2 front decreases on a repeat, because the front has 2 more stitches than the back. Sigh. I think I'm just going to fudge it though, and throw them in, rather than taking out several rows. I have to pick up the band around the armhole anyway, it'll all work out, easy peasy.

In nonknitting news, the big moving day is Wednesday - so we've been getting the house ready. Mr. Tall doesn't have much stuff, but I do - so it's been a lot of getting rid of things to make space. And then there's the Big Paint that's going on. I did the first coat of primer - and I did a SHITTY job - paint everywhere. When Joe came home, he just couldn't understand how I could be so good at one craft (knitting) and bad at another (painting). I explained, through my frustration tears at my own sloppy handiwork, that I don't want to be good at painting. In fact, I've officially retired from painting. However, I did spend the next several days scratchy, rubbing, and willing the paint off the hardwood floor with Goof Off. Oy, my nails!

While Tall hasn't quite moved in yet, his Wii has - yeah! I won't go so far as to say I've become a "gamer," but I did enjoy CSI/Hard Evidence, love tennis, and we just got Wii fit - fun fitness, gotta like it! And on Wednesday, the Wii will be joined by the PS3 and the Xbox - it's all so exciting!