St Brigid: August 2007 Archives

Who knew my sleeve discussion would elicit so many differing opinions. I really didn't anticipate that. But, I'm glad it happened -- it really got me thinking about what I wanted to do, and what defined "St Brigid" to me.

In the end, I've decided to do a set-in sleeve with a saddle shoulder. Marnie was the first to suggest this, and I think it's going to work well.

I didn't come to this decision lightly. I sketched and sketched, and poured over pics of sweaters online to find something similar to each that I was considering.

What finally got me was when I stumbled upon a few pics of Demi from Rowan Vintage Knits. The button band works very much like a shoulder saddle and it was all I needed to convince myself that this option can work with a set-in sleeve aran sweater. Here's a pic of Kate's Demi to show you what I mean.

The Schedule

I am a bit behind on my schedule. I've been doing a lot of work on the house and garden, and didn't even knit 2 weekends ago at all. I'm almost caught up, and have knit until my thumb started to hurt. I should be back to knitting tonight, and if I finish the back by Friday I think I'll be OK -- I'll still have 2 weekends left to knit on the front, and that's really the bulk of my knitting time.

The Next Question

Once I start the front, I'm going to have to decide:

• Where to split the front for the start of the hood split?
• What to do with the cables once the split starts?
• What, if anything, do I want to do with the edge of the hood?

All these decisions are slowing me down, but they're necessary if I'm going to get the sweater I want in the end.

As I've been knitting I've been giving a lot of thought to how I want to tackle the sleeves. As I see it, I have three options, each with their pros and cons.

1. Modified drop shoulder
2. Set-in sleeves
3. Raglan

If you recall, I'm modifying the sleeves so I can reduce some of the bulk. Drop shoulders always add bulk. But, on someone who has a torso that's much bigger than their shoulders the drop shoulder is even less flattering. Why? As people get larger, their shoulders get larger at a much slower rate than their torsos.

A quick check at the CYC's Women's Size Charts shows that for women whose bust measurements range from 28 - 42 inches, their shoulder width only ranges from 14 - 17.5 inches. That means, while the body of their garments increased 7 inches (7 inches for one half of the body, say, just the front), their shoulders only increased half of that. The amount of additional fabric in the underarm area has doubled!!

What this means is that the larger your torso is, the more difficult it's going to be for a drop shoulder silhouette to look good on you.

The drop shoulder has got to go.

Shoulder Shaping

In addition to modifying the sleeve, I'm also adding in some shoulder shaping. This will also help with the extra underarm fabric. Shoulder shaping mimics the actual slope of our shoulders. You're going to get a better fit any time you can make the garment mimic your shape more closely.

OK, on to the sleeves.

Modified drop shoulder

Pros

• Most similar to the original design. I could even keep the shoulder saddles, which I consider a real plus.
• Least disruptive to the cable patterning.
• Easiest modification to execute.

Cons

• Will still leave some extra fabric under the arm.
• Hardest to estimate the true look of because I don't have any sweaters that fit this way.

Set-in Sleeve

Pros

• Best fit -- will eliminate the most bulk.

Cons

• I couldn't retain the shoulder saddles. Well, technically I could but I think they'd look very awkward.
• While I like the way this sleeve fits, I'm afraid it might change the overall look of the sweater.

Raglan Sleeve

Pros

• Will eliminate some bulk
• Fun to knit -- each row gets shorter!

Cons

• Since it's knitted from the bottom up, I'd have to figure out how to knit the sleeves so the cables match up. While not impossible, cursing and hissy fits will certainly be likely.
• If set-in sleeves would change the look, raglans will change the look even more.

Given all that, which way do you think I should go? Before I drew up the sketches I was strongly leaning toward the modified drop. But after looking at the sketches, I'm seriously reconsidering the set-in sleeve. Although, I keep getting stuck on that saddle shoulder. Hmm...

Kathleen and Vicki hit the nail on the head. It was the old guard article with the pic of Alice wearing her very own St Brigid that did me in. The moment I turned the page and saw that it was all over. I even picked a shade similar to hers.

I find it interesting that my St Brigid KAL buddies were the only ones to note that Alice was wearing St Brigid in the pic. Once that sweater is in your blood it's there for good. I've considered knitting it several times a year and have cast on for it no less than 4 times -- you can see 2 shades of green here in December 05, natural in December 04, and dark gray in August 04. I also remember a purple/black shade of Cascade 220 called Rainier Heather, but it doesn't look like I blogged about it.

So in this case 6th time is a charm because I am 100% sold on this color.

stop laughing Christy i'm serious here

It's no surprise either, given that it very closely matches one of my all-time favorite sweaters.

So are you curious who won?

Six of you guessed St Brigid out of 45 votes, and....

Kathleen won!

Congratulations Kathleen! It seems fitting that you won since you're a big part of the reason I started and have continued to be obsessed with this sweater for so long.

What did Kathleen win? Well, I'm not sure yet. We're in talks now :)

St Brigid in 10 weeks?

Yeah, it'll be tight. And, just like you'd expect, I have a few mods planned.

Firstly, I'm going to adjust the sleeves. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to do a modified drop sleeve or a set-in sleeve. I hadn't considered a set-in sleeve for an aran, but the Phildar Hoodie has set-in sleeves and it looks pretty good.

I'm also planning to adjust the neckline. While I love the look, a round neck is not a good shape for me. I'm considering a hood but I need to give some more thought to how the transition from front cables to hood can work.

Here's my rough schedule in order to stay finish on time:

• back: 2 weeks through Aug 26th
• front: 2 weeks through Sept 9th
• sleeve 1: 1.5 weeks through Sept 19th
• sleeve 2: 1.5 weeks through Sept 30th
• hood: 1 week through Oct 7th
• finishing: 1 week through Oct 14th

That takes up every weekend from now through Rhinebeck. I probably don't need 2 weeks total for the hood and finishing, but a little slack in a schedule is always a good thing.

For you, my dear readers, this may not be very exciting. This leaves very little room for me to knit anything other than St Brigid. This also means that my festival stash won't get any smaller.

But, if I can walk around Rhinebeck wearing St Brigid, I'll be just fine with that.

just in case you're thinking of warning me about indian summer and how Rhinebeck was really warm 2 years ago -- i don't care. it's not that i'm denying that it can happen, but Rhinebeck is all about celebrating fall knitting to me. if it's too warm to wear a sweater like St Brigid then i'll walk around in a tshirt, with my st brigid tied around my waist i'm sure ;)