OK, I lied in the previous post. 🙄

I decided, during a time of insomnia, that I did not, after all, like how the bottom of the V-neck was asymmetrical. The bottom of a V-neck is always going to be prominent, even in an ordinary ribbing (or other edging pattern), so it’s usually worthwhile to spend a bit of time to get it right. Since my two neck edgings were mirror-image, then the innermost knit columns on each should always be decreased away on the same round. I recharted this area in my drawing program, using a different symbol (what’s usually the slip-stitch symbol) for the right-side knit columns’ stitches, just to make the intended effect as clear as possible. (Note that the central stitch is shown as all knits due to my laziness for simplicity, but in the WIP, I’m working them as alternating knit and purl.)

As you can see, the knit columns on the two edgings should meet and disappear on the same rounds. But that’s not what the close-up pic in the previous post seems to show.

Now that I had verified what should be happening, I decided I was going to drop down the middle part of the neck edgings, all the way to the round where they first met, if necessary, and work them back up, because I thought I had somehow gotten the red marker (again see the close-up pic in the previous post) off by a stitch.

But when I pulled out the WIP to see how many of the central stitches I would need to drop to correct my error, I saw quite clearly that the red marker was actually in the correct place, since the three stitches immediately to its right will indeed be the ones involved in the next double dec. Then I looked very closely at the place where the innermost knit columns met and were decreased away. While the area may look asymmetrical, the involved stitches were in fact decreased properly on the same round.

So why doesn’t it look right? I think it’s because of the way the knit columns zigzag side to side. The left- and right-neck edgings’ innermost knit columns are being pulled into the double dec differently because they’re both zigging in the same direction (or maybe they’re both zagging). That’s what seems to be making it look like the left knit column disappeared a round (or even two) earlier than the right knit column.

If you look at the above chart portion and follow a particular knit column upward, you can see that each knit stitch is next to a knit on one side and a purl on the other, but then on the next row, the knit and purl swap places. So if on the left side of the knit column the sequence is knit-purl-knit-purl, on the right side of the knit column it’s purl-knit-purl-knit. I’m pretty sure that asymmetry is what pulls the knit column alternately left and right (or right and left, as I don’t know if it’s the adjoining purl or knit that pulls more on the central knit. At least not at this time of the morning as I write this post while still half a quart low on caffeine!!!).

So the bottom line is that I’ve worked the front V-neck correctly so far and don’t need to drop down any stitches before I continue working. Yay! And phew!

Body Shaping

I did, however, only yesterday ( 🙄 ) realize that the body is completely unshaped in the most recent chart. Based on the results from the first two sweater adventures, I don’t need to do as many body increases nor start them so soon after the body/sleeve split. I think three, or at most four, increase rounds of four stitches each will be quite sufficient for my purposes (16 extra sts will give me an extra 2.5 inches at the hips). If I start them much lower, closer to my actual, nearly-nonexistent waist, then I can maximize both the body and sleeve lengths.

My waist is about six inches below the UA split, so I’ll work the first increase round about an inch before that, on round 143. I’ll do subsequent inc rounds every inch, which would be rounds 152, 161, and 170. The new chart adds the body incs and also shows the multi-row gap between colorways 2 and 3, which helps me select portions of the chart to count sts by counting chart symbols.

Bottom Edgings

You’ll note the new version of the chart continues to show stockinette all the way to the bottoms of the sleeves and the body. I still haven’t decided if I’ll use Mistake-Stitch Rib or my go-to stretchy 2×2 ribbing, which theoretically would help hold the sleeves and body in place and prevent excessive stretching. But I really like the MSR, so I’m pretty tempted at this point to work it on the bottom edges so that the FO has a cohesive look. If, after a wearing and washing cycle or two, it becomes apparent that those edges really do need to be a more traditional ribbing, well, then I can always frog them all back and work them as ordinary 2×2 ribbing.

On the other hand, since it’s superwash yarn which I will definitely put through the washer and the dryer, each laundering cycle should “snap” the fabric back to its unstretched state.

Well, whadda ya know? I just made the decision!

One Last Note

When I finished rotating the neck edgings in my drawing program to make the mini-chart image at the top, I realized that as soon as I’ve decreased away the final two knit columns in the edgings, I can stop working the MSR pattern altogether. Since the knit columns are the most prominent features, because I deliberately adjusted the stitch pattern starting point after finishing sweater adventure #3, then once those last two prominent features are gone, the pattern has essentially ceased to exist. So I’ll get to stop the stitch pattern eight rounds earlier than I thought.

I like it!!!