Two More Days, Two More Pieces

Left and right fronts of the Classic Silk Open Cardi are done.

Don’t hate me because I’m fast.

It’s actually not quite as impressive as it looks. Each front only took about 3 hours. And there’s actually still a lot of knitting left for the front pieces, because there’s a 3″ band that goes along the front edging. Hence the large gap in the center:

I did have a moment of concern (OK, more than a moment) after finishing the left front piece, when I pinned the back and front together and could see that the front piece was waaaay too small. WTF? I knew my pieces matched the schematic. Adding up the width of the back piece and two front pieces wasn’t at all close to the “finished measurement” listed. I had assumed that “finished measurement including the front band” meant measuring from the center front edge of the right front piece, around the back, and to the center front edge of the left front piece. But the cardigan is open in the front. Were they counting air space? Was the “finished measurement” actually twice the width of the cardigan if you laid it flat, ignoring the gap?

I knew I’d need more width than that. But rather than deal with the left front, I just started knitting the right front, casting on for the medium size instead of small. I knew I could block more width out of the fabric, too. I had a few inches done by the time I got to SnB yesterday. After whining about the problem to Margene, she slapped me upside the head and said “Isn’t there a band that goes along the front edge?”

Uh, yeah. I forgot that there was that 3″ band. Which, of course, is not shown in the schematic. So yes, the finished measurement is indeed correct. Whew!

Good thing I hadn’t frogged the left front. And another good thing that Margene was there to set me straight.

I think I’ll seam the shoulders and knit the front band before I tackle the sleeves.