Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 22:09:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: Leigh Witchel <dae@panix.com>
To: Knitlist <Knit@bolis.com>
Subject: KNIT:  La retour des cendres (ou le fils prodigue) (fwd)
  
[...]

I'd like to thank everyone for the positive feedback on the article and the
sweater.  It feels like I did them so long ago I barely recognize either of
them as my work.  A deep, dark, confession.  My principal cause of UFO's at
this point is things being lost in the knitting avalanche, and being
constantly pushed to the bottom of the queue because they have no specific
finishing date, as opposed to jobs with a deadline.  This means almost
anything for me.  Another reason I'm glad for the machine.  

Bonnie Smith asked about making an Irish Knot.  The 6th stitch made (the
leftmost one) gets passed over first.  For people interested in making the
sweater, here are a few tips which had to be cut because of space
limitations:

o     Use a tubular cast on and cast off.  You can find it in several
      compendiums, including Montse Stanley's and Vogue Knitting.  It
      enhances the integrated seamless feel of the design.

o     The design is really best made smaller by using a smaller gauge, but
      there is an alternative way to size it larger.  One can add width to
      the front and back in eight stitch increments.  Add the eight 
      stitches as a repeat in the central panel.  One can also add
      a moss stitch panel at the side in eight stitch increments,
      but DO NOT SPLIT IT OVER A ROUND.  Add it entirely at the
      beginning or end, to avoid throwing off the sequence of the ribbing
      into the pattern.  

o     If you increase the width, you may need to increase the length of the
      saddle.  If you change the length of the body, or the saddle/sleeve
      unit, you have to do it by 24  rows (the largest repeat) If you
      increase the length of the saddle, you may wish to consider
      subtracting rows from the top of the sleeve and keeping the
      total number of rows in the saddle/sleeve unit the same rather than
      increasing a full pattern repeat (which adds about 4 ins. length to
      an already generous sleeve.)

I'll try and answer questions if I can, but please understand that I may not
always have the time available.

[...]

Until the next time I come up for air!

LAW