stuff about franky...

 No, I won’t be writing the pattern for this – way too much stuff happening to write it all down and grade sizes, never mind having a yarn that everyone can get. I’m going to try and give you enough info about what I did to help you in case you still want to attempt this!

My swatch was stockinette, just because, and then I chose a tuck pattern (it’s a basic stitch, usually included in even punchcard machines) that I’ve used in the past – it was really just to bulk up the fabric and add a bit of texture without being too baby-blanket-ish (bubbly), which a lot of tuck patterns are. I haven’t quite committed to which side will be used for the public side. I prefer the look of the purl side because of the vertical lines but pretty sure I’ll use the knit side because it presents a flatter finish that most non-machine knitters recognize.

I have mentioned that I often knit sleeves first but maybe haven’t really explained why. The sleeve is usually the smallest piece, area-wise and it gives you a chance to get used to the stitch pattern without worrying about working the full width of the needle bed. It's a good opportunity to experiment with your increase method (if you forgot to do this on the swatch!) without it being in a prominent position - who looks at the underside of the sleeve? Same for the cast-on and cast-off method to be used. Normally I would cast on with waste yarn and ravel cord and then a plain row of stockinette before going into the stitch pattern so there is a plain row to pick up later for the trim - this I did on the first sleeve. Proceeded to work through the increases which become more frequent as the knitting progresses - with tuck stitch, the row gauge can be quite high - mine is 52 rows to 10 cm/4 inches - and even if there is an increase of one stitch in less than four rows, any type of full-fashioned increase doesn't work very well and it tightens up the seam line too much. I found the best method to use here was to bring out a new needle on the carriage side at the beginning of the row and wrap it, also selecting the second stitch, bringing it out to cancel the tuck, turning it into a plain knit stitch to improve the edge. What you're doing is basically having two knit stitches at the edge to make for a smoother line and ensure the seaming and finishing goes well. This will prove more important on the Front/Back because of the curves.

 

At the top of the sleeve, I did shortrow the cap and then took it off on waste. Then said to myself, what were you thinking? OR better yet, WERE you thinking?  This is black! Picking up those tiny black stitches is going to be brutal! AND there’s no need to have open stitches – the ‘easy bind edge’ is going to hide all!

The second sleeve has an ewrap at the bottom and a loose row chained cast-off at the top! And look at me! No point in taking photos of the real thing, it’s black! I made a swatch in beige of the bottom edge of the front/back so I could show how this looks…