FINALLY!!!

Now that I know I have plenty of yarn, even to do some A-line shaping on the body, and that the places where I’ll change colorways are set, I am ready to cast on.

As soon as I learned the crochet CO, it became my go-to for all projects, even those that start with ribbing. Apparently I Goldilocks my crochet CO (not too loose, not too tight, but just right), because it is as nearly stretchy as the fabric that springs from it. Well, stretchy enough, even when the initial fabric is ribbing.

So I CO 48 (1 for each front, 5 for each sleeve, and 36 for the back) on a 2.75 mm needle using a 2.75 mm hook. I worked two rows, then started the increases on row 3.

Full disclosure: I put markers on the needles but in the wrong places, so my first couple of incs weren’t lining up. So I frogged and started over, putting pins in the second and seventh sts from each end so that I could * work to marked st, rev yo, K marked st, yo, and rep from * across.

Once I got the lines established, I was able to hang markers on the needles (my preference), positioning each marker after the raglan st, which meant I could * work to 1 st before M, rev yo, K1, sl M, yo, and rep from * across. (I think I put the marker before the central stitch, rather than after it, the first time around. Sigh.)

On the WS rows, I worked all the incs in the trailing legs to twist them shut. Since it’s cotton, not wool, there are small holes at all the incs, but I’m choosing to call them design features. Yes, I should have swatched various incs in the yarn, but I was frankly tired of swatching and wanted to get going. I knew that no matter which inc I wound up using, it would be more obvious than the same inc would be in an animal fiber, so I wasn’t going to fuss too much.

The top legs of the twisted-shut incs all point at the central raglan st, rather than away from it. I just prefer that appearance.

Because the sleeve incs started out as every 4 rows and the front/back incs were every other row, I made myself a list with the entire yoke shaping, all the way to the underarm cast-ons. I used the idea from Working Multiple Patterns Simultaneously, but instead of putting stitch pattern row numbers in each column, I put the scheduled inc number. While I was working flat, it was easy to keep up with which row I was on, and I just put a check mark next to the row number after I finished it. (The list has only the RS rows, because WS rows were simply worked even.)

For the front neck incs, which started on row 43, I’m doing “yo…rev yo” so that the leg on top points at the fabric edge, the same way the raglan increases’ top legs point at the raglan lines.

Through row 50, 58.89 g of colorway 1 remained. That means I worked 5848 sts with 38.53 g of yarn, which is 152 sts/g. That’s quite a few more sts than I estimated I would get based on my swatch, so yarn chicken truly should not be an issue.

Through row 64, it’s 7.5 in, so I’m getting 8.5 rpi, which is a bit tighter than the 8 rpi I got on the prewashed swatch. I’m hoping that the row gauge won’t tighten up too much past the 9 rpi I designed to after a couple of laundering cycles. On row 65, I’ll crochet CO the 12 sts at the base of the front neck, working the first one through the final purl bump on the WS, then SWITCH TO THE 3.00 mm NEEDLE and start working in the round. (Note to self: don’t forget to change needle size!)

Colorways Used

The colorway order for this first CotLin sweater will be

• Cirrus (97.42 g)
• Nimbus (96.7 g, estimated because I forgot to weigh it)
• Stratus (96.86 g)
• Hydrangea
• Cumulus