Do not mistake my angst as described below with my love of this project.  I love the rich color of the French Red Egyptian cotton and the quality of the fabric that was created with this unique diagonal cable stitch.  It was indeed this wonderful feel, drape, and body of the fabric that singlehandedly motivated me to continue on when I began stumbling with the directions.

I have nicknamed this project RED aka. R.E.D.  This stands for Redo Every Direction.  Yes.  This was a perfect project if ever I contemplate design work.  You shall soon see.  Whether it was my misinterpretation or the directions were incorrect, it was as if the directions had been thrown up into the air and one had to figure out where to use which step.

So, where to begin… The first thing to realize is that this design is meant to be asymmetrical.   I mean look at that crazy schematic!  Then, I had to orient myself as to where the slit was (on the left side).  Of course,  I could see it plainly in the photograph below (from the magazine), but it was much more difficult to ‘see’ in the schematic, oddly enough.  Then, you need to remind yourself about increases and decreases.  Really.

And, that is why and when the confusion began.  When the directions said to increase, the schematic displayed otherwise.  Same with the decreases.  After I realized the written directions were not matching the schematic, I had to decide which was correct.  So I made a life size paper pattern that I could actually hold  up to me.  By doing that I could see that the schematic was correct in that it would give me the shape of the piece I needed to get the final product, so I went ahead and knitted the fabric to match wondering how in the world the written directions came to be.

These are the directions I wrote and followed:

BACK

As written until:
Right edge shaping ~
Bind off (at beg of RS rows), 5 sts once, 4 sts once, and increase 1 st at same edge every 6^th row 9 times and when armhole measures 8 1/2“, bind off from this edge 4 sts 25 times, 1 st once.
NOTE: I totally ignored the direction of bind off from this edge 2 st 7 times and 1 st 20 times and chose the bind off as written for the left edge. Also, changed decrease to increase.
AT THE SAME TIME
Left edge shaping ~
When piece measures 8” from marker, work left edge shaping by binding off (at beg of WS rows) 3 sts 3 times then decrease 1 st 27 times at beg of every WS row (left edge, still) until no stitches are remaining.
NOTE: So, basically I changed increase to decrease and followed all other directions in this section.

FRONT
As written until:
Right Side Shaping ~
Followed directions including v-neck shaping.
Left Side Shaping ~
From neck edge, bind off from this edge 2 st 7 times and 1 st 20 times. (I utilized the direction that I ignored, above.)
NOTE: This time, I ignored the dec 1 st every 6^th row until no sts rem at neck edge and from armhole edge bind off 4 sts until no sts rem at armhole edge.

Aside from all of that, here are some other notes I took.

1. The pattern is one size.
2. The fabric is quite elastic so keep that in mind with your gauge and size.
3. I did all the increase and decrease shaping by casting on and binding off to keep the diagonal cable pattern all the way to the edge of the knitted pieces.
4. I used a double pointed needle rather than a cable needle when working the cables.  It is what I am used to as I have never used a cable needle.
5. The diagonal effect is made via cables.
6. I did not block as it wasn’t needed.

Another mishap I had was assuming the yardage in the skein of yarn I purchased was THE SAME as the yardage in the skein that the designer used some years, ago.  Well, no!  And, well into the knitting did I realize this!  Frantically, I searched the internet and by a very lucky chance, made contact with someone on Ravelry who was kind enough to sell me a skein.  Not the same dye lot, (yikes) so I knitted with the mismatch here and there to make it blend in.

A MINOR DESIGN CHANGE:  The pattern is from Vogue Knitting 2000.  To modernize the look, I did a lovely picot crochet edge around the neck and sleeves and eliminated the edging around the bottom.  When you add edging to a stretchy fabric, the fabric immediately becomes stiff and board-like.  I just love the way this hangs naturally around my shape and did not want to hamper that flow with an edging just because it was in the pattern.

So, here is my take on Jacqueline van Dillen‘s Spring/Summer Vogue Knitting 2000 pattern seen in today’s photo shoot in a local Japanese garden as well as for my retirement reception back in late June.

 

OH!  RED… for a red letter day!  Thanks, Beth for that idea!

lessons learned:

• Check the yardage on YOUR label against the yardage in the pattern even if it is the same yarn!
• Don’t give up when directions become confusing.  There are many ways to skin a cat!