Dear Connie,
I am struggling with Nantucket Red. The first sign that all was not smooth sailing was when I blocked the three main pieces and found that the left front was a couple inches too short.:
I fixed the left front, finished a sleeve, and started the making up process. And would you look at that shoulder?
WTF? The decreases for the sleeve cap were written oddly, in my opinion, and as a result the shoulder looks totally wonky. What’s worse is that now that it’s all pieced together, ripping it back and fixing the sleeve would be a real bear.
I decided to put a pin in the sleeve issue and work the collar. Needless to say, that went pretty poorly. Picking up stitches for the collar is a process always ripe for disaster, but this linen/cotton is so unforgiving. Big ugly holes. Rip, rip, rip. I plan to try again with more stitches picked up with a much smaller needle, and decrease to where I want the total count to be.
And now I am left with a few possible ways forward, sleeve-wise.
- I could tear out the entire side seam and arm, rip back the arm, and correct the decreases.
- I could make a small seam across the top of the sleeve and take in the extra bulk. If so – do I make the other sleeve as written (poorly) and correct it in the identical fashion? GAH! The only thing worse than one crappy sleeve is two crappy sleeves.
- I could finish the pattern as written, get it most of the way blocked and only just damp, then wear it until the sleeves/shoulders conform to the shape of my body.
Help me, Obi-Wan Conn-obi. You’re my only hope.
Love, Lindsay
Yarn Over an Ocean 