A long over due knitting project

Picking up where I left off

Vicki Square's Knit Kimono Cover

I just picked this up to finish after letting it sit for quite a while. This project had to percolate while I decided what I would do with it. First I had a hard time getting the right gauge. I had no trouble getting the right number of stitch rows per inch, but the stitches per row were just too wide. I tried several needles to get this right and finally decided that I would go ahead with it by just reducing the number of stitches per row to make it come out right by the measurements. One problem solved. I still don't know what I could have done to correct this. Perhaps a different yarn.  

The next thing I had to resolve was what would I do when I got to the contrast color portion because now there was a different stitch count than was originally planned. I could no longer knit by the exact instructions. I could either create a whole new contrast pattern, delete the contrast part, or alter the contrast pattern that Vicki Square had designed. I had 24 inches of solid color stockinette stitch knitting before I had to make that decision. Only, I still did not know what I wanted to do when I got to that point. I let the project sit for a very long time. We can count this one in years instead of days, weeks or months. 

I picked it up again last week to have something to do while I watched the Winter Olympic games. I decided to keep to the original pattern, but had to reduce it by the number of stitches I omitted in the row. I divided the number by 2 and then recalculated how each row should start and end to keep the pattern centered.

My knitted version over the instructions

Here is the contrast work I have done after I finally decided how I would resolve the alterations I had made. Looking back, it would only have been slightly wider than the original plan and is not a close fitting garment. I could have just knitted exactly by the pattern. I think you can see my notes on the top right where I recalculated the start and end of each row. I also changed the suggested colors. I could not find navy when I started this so I used a dark plum color and an off-white.  

This contrast work is pretty easy because instead of having to carry threads behind the stitches for color changes in the row, the pattern is accomplished by slipping stitches to keep the colors. Had I known it was going to be this painless I might not have let it sit for so long. 

I have one more set of 24 rows to complete the contrast work on the back then on to the front pieces. That should go much faster because all of the alteration decisions have been made.