Wryit

I had just started a new job and my knitting mojo had dissolved to near nothing (especially since I needed all my brain power to do all the new employee training required and get up to speed with what's going on at work).  So my poor hexagon blanket is "resting'.  In the meantime, I thought maybe I could work on a sweater since I could follow a pattern (well, in theory, at least 😉🤭😳😱) and it wouldn't require me to join a new ball of yarn every 20 rows or so. 😖🤦

Two (2) years ago, KDD came out with their 10 Years of Knitting book and I had fallen in love with the Wryit sweater. 😍💕  It was definitely going to be my "next" sweater.  I had initially intended to use some other (stash) yarn but, Hubs said why not make it in a colour I really wanted?  And (of course), he was right so I also (finally) picked up a (much coveted) chocolate/dark coffee coloured yarn: Malabrigo Coco. 😘

So, before I could start my sweater, I had to wind all five (5) skeins into cakes.  No sweat, right?  After all, I had my new super fancy ball winder and I had merrily zipped my way into winding all nine (9) skeins for my blanket.  Oh boy, was I wrong! 😖🤦😱 The first two (2) skeins went just fine; the third one nearly killed me! 😖😱😭😡😤😠  When I opened it up, I already knew I was in trouble; it looked like someone had forgotten which why they started to wind it and went in the other direction before realizing they should be going in the opposite direction and changed course again!  It was a mess!😳😱😭  I thought, well, it can't be that bad, right but I was SOOOOOO WRONG! 🤦🤦🤦  I tried to wind it but for every spin, I had to slip out the yarn to untangle it.  Soon, it was simply a gigantic ball of yarn barf! 😳🤦😱😡😤😠  It got to the point in which Hubs had to come to my rescue and was holding one end of the yarn so that I could untwist it (and eventually, I had to unwind it from both ends!).  There was NO WAY I would've been able to untangle that mess without his help. 😍💕💕  Being the amazing Hubs he is, while I went to plate him a reward treat (with tea service), he surprised me by winding that mess into a cake for me! 😍🥰💕💕💕🥳.  I'm one damn lucky girl; not only do I have a Hubs who will put up listening to me whine & cry about this incredibly HUGE ball of yarn barf but, he also helps me detangle it AND winds it into a yarn cake for me! 😘😍💕 (And, if you're wondering, the last two (2) skeins were a piece of cake (pun completely intended) to wind.)

Now that I (finally) had my yarn ready, it was ready to start working on my sweater! 🥳🙌  I read over the pattern twice then casted on.   I was able to complete Step 1 in a day.

So, now, I was onto Step 2: connecting the front and starting the "meat" of the sweater.  Thirty (30) rows in, I realized something ... 😳🤦😱 ... my "back" wasn't making any sense and it did not look like the picture! 😳🤦😱🤦🤦🤦  Something was amiss ... I re-read step 2, looked at the picture (of the back of the sweater) and realized that I completely misunderstood it and completely ignored the C-H-A-R-T that was for the back! 🤦🤦🤦  For some odd reason or another, I had presumed that it was the chart for the front! and until I started working on the actual said front side, did I realize that something was wrong! 🤦🤦🤦  So, I had to make a hard decision:  Do I completely frog it and start over??  OR do I just drop stitches to fix that back??  Since I had to cut the yarn to move onto to Step 2, I was really reluctant to frog it; so, I opted to drop stitches to fix it.  The back is 59 sts wide.  I fixed the first 13 sts just fine (after a few mishaps but it wasn't earth-shattering) and felt confident that I could fix the last 13 sts just fine (it's the opposite of the first 13 sts).  But, the middle 33 sts! 😳🤦😱😱😱🤦🤦🤦  The middle 33 sts was a complex series of cables and after fixing the sweater up to where the first cables began, I just .... stopped.  I had used my variety of trusty cable needles to do the first 15 sts so, I figured I'd just needed to figure out which cable needle I owned would work best for me for the middle section.  It ended being my favorite J-hook cable needle which was also my smallest cable needle: a Susan Bates 2 3/4" J-hook.  And while I used it to fix the first 13 sts, I did have some trouble with it for the middle portion as it was kinda big over the 10 rows that I had corrected; it was manageable since it wasn't too many sts.  But, for the middle 33 sts, I had to rip a-l-l the way d-o-w-n to the beginning of the sweater - that was 30 rows!  I just couldn't bear to use my J-hook for all that!  Here's a picture of what I'm talking about:

So, it was off to Etsy to see if I could find a shorter cable needle that could help hold stitches/keep it in the back without getting mixed up/tangled in the outstanding rows I needed to fix.  I have been eyeing out these cable needles for quite some time and thought this might be the perfect time to buy them:

As I was talking to the maker of these cool cable stitch holder, Leslie Wind, to see exactly how big these were, she was asking me why were I specifically asking about this.  So, I told her about my dilemma and explained to her what I hoped her tools would do to help solve my issue.  She then offered me to test out some of her items.  I was so surprised and thrilled that I immediately said Y-E-S!😍💕🥰🥳🙌🎉  Then I sent her a picture of my dilemma (as shown above) and she was like: Yikes!  And I was like: I know!  So, rest assured, I will have plenty to "test" on with (hopefully) lots of pictures, feedback (& hopefully, a resolution for my sweater) to come!  I'm now looking forward to actually fixing my sweater and getting on with it.  (Not to worry, a separate post was made that adventure! 😉🤭👍)

After my adventure in cable needles, here's how it came out:

As you can see, it's all fixed and really, it looks like how it was always supposed to look like (so, let's pretend that my initial nightmare never happened, ok? 😉👍).  Now that  I was back on track, I needed a few moments to re-orient where I had actually left off on Step #2 so that no other mishaps would occur! 😳😱🤦

The only problem was that I finally got to the end of the basic front chart (Chart B) but didn't know how to repeat the side front charts (Charts A & C) so, my poor Wryit just sat there, languishing for nearly a year!😳😱🤦  It took me a while to sinply fess up and ask the authors if they could explain to me how the charts repeat.  They were kind enough to literally provide me a table (it was really the first three (3) columns):

Step #2 Yoke
Wryit Cable Panel Round	Front and Back		Step#2, Sections
	Chart A / C Row # (6 row repeat)	Chart B Row # (8 row repeat)
1	1	1	Inc 8	C
2	2	2		D
3	3	3	Inc 8	C
4	4	4		D
5	5	5	Inc 8	C
6	6	6		D
7	1	7	Inc 8	C
8	2	8		D
9	3	1	Inc 8	C
10	4	2		D
11	5	3	Inc 8	C
12	6	4		D
13	1	5	Inc 8	C
14	2	6		D
15	3	7	Inc 8	C
16	4	8		D
17	5	1	Inc 8	C
18	6	2		D
19	1	3	Inc 8	C
20	2	4		D
21	3	5	Inc 8	C
22	4	6		D
23	5	7	Inc 8	C
24	6	8		D
25	1	1	Inc 8	C
26	2	2		D
27	3	3	Inc 8	C
28	4	4		D
29	5	5	Inc 8	C
30	6	6	Inc 4	E
31	1	7	Inc 8	E	Total # of sts
32	2	8	Inc 7	E	322	@ 7" / 18 cm

It took me a while to wrap my head around this table; essentially, I kept looking at my knitting, reading the instructions (wondering where did I last left off?? 😳😱🤦) and (also) wondering how many increases I had already made.  It finally dawned on me that if I added in the last two (2) columns to my table, I could figure out where I was at! 🤦👍🥳🙌🎉  This meant that I had stopped at Pattern Round #6!  Now that I knew were I last left off, I did a few "practice" rounds and found that I was still having a difficult time with the charts because I wasn't able to use my (one (1)) long chart marker for both charts (the rounds on each chart was on different rows so, for instance, if I needed to see Row 2 for Chart B, I wouldn't be able to see Row 4 for Charts A & C). 😱🤦😱🤦😱🤦.  In the end, I decided to cut apart the charts and have them on two (2) differnt chart markers so I could easily see whatever row that I was on.  After that, it got me back into the groove of things (and was finally able to see all the correct corresponding rows!) where I managed to finish the Step #2 over a weekend! 😳😱👍🥳🙌🎉

Now that I was done with my yoke, it was still a little too short.  Since the table was so handy, I decided to keep up with it so here's how it went:

Step #2 Remaining Yoke
Wryit Cable Panel Round	Front and Back		@ 21.5 cm
	Chart A / C Row #	Chart B Row #
1	3	1
2	4	2
3	5	3
4	6	4
5	1	5
6	2	6
7	3	7
8	4	8
9	5	1

With the yoke (finally) done, I wars ready to split the sleeves:

Step #3 Splitting for Sleeves
Wryit Cable Panel Round	Front and Back
	Chart A / C Row #	Chart B Row #
1	6	2
2	1	3

And, now it was time for the body.  Since I learned from working on my yoke that 9 rows was equivalent to 3.5 cm and I needed 28 cm for the body, I was also able to use the same table for the body as well:

Step #4 Body
Wryit Cable Panel Round	Front and Back
	Chart A / C Row #	Chart B Row #
3	2	4
4	3	5
5	4	6
6	5	7
7	6	8
8	1	1
9	2	2
10	3	3
11	4	4
12	5	5
13	6	6
14	1	7
15	2	8
16	3	1
17	4	2
18	5	3
19	6	4
20	1	5
21	2	6
22	3	7
23	4	8
24	5	1
25	6	2
26	1	3
27	2	4
28	3	5
29	4	6
30	5	7
31	6	8
32	1	1
33	2	2
34	3	3
35	4	4
36	5	5
37	6	6
38	1	7
39	2	8
40	3	1
41	4	2
42	5	3
43	6	4
44	1	5
45	2	6
46	3	7
47	4	8
48	5	1
49	6	2
50	1	3
51	2	4
52	3	5
53	4	6
54	5	7
55	6	8
56	1	1
57	2	2
58	3	3
59	4	4
60	5	5
61	6	6
62	1	7
63	2	8
64	3	1
65	4	2
66	5	3
67	6	4
68	1	5
69	2	6
70	3	7
71	4	8
72	5	1
73	6	2
74	1	3
75	2	4
76	3	5
77	4	6
78	5	7
79	6	8
80	1	1
81	2	2
82	3	3
83	4	4
84	5	5
85	6	6
86	1	7
87	2	8
88	3	1
89	4	2
90	5	3	Dec 2	25 cm
1	K2, P2		30 cm
2	K2, P2
3	K2, P2
4	K2, P2
5	K2, P2
6	K2, P2
7	K2, P2
8	K2, P2
9	K2, P2
10	K2, P2
11	K2, P2
12	K2, P2
13	K2, P2		Bind off

I must say, having the table really helped, especially since there were so many rounds to do and that the charts rows were rarely in sync with each other.  It also help to provide me with "goals" to reach every evening/weekend.  Thanks to the table, I was able to complete the body in 9 days (and, yes, I made the body a little shorter since I'm short!😉).🙌🎉🎊🥳  During this time, I finally had to add on another skein of yarn so, here's how much two (2) alternating skeins of Malabrigo Rios amounted to:

Front

Back

I must say, while it doesn't look like much, I felt the amount of yarn used (& my progress) was really good.  I have three (3) skeins of yarn left and I think that should be more than enough to finish the body and sleeves.🤞🍀  

 

Here what the completed body looks like (all 30 cm of it):

Front

Back 

And here's how much yarn I have left:

Sidebar: I  switched to US4 needles on Row 2 of the ribbing (to complete the ribbing) and switched back to US6 needles to bind off.

I didn't realize how much the body would take and now, I don't think have enough yarn to finish the sleeves!😳😱🤦  However, I found a seller on Etsy in which I could get another skein! 🙌🎉🎊🥳  And, although I'm waiting for it to come in, I can still work on the sleeves with what (little) yarn I have left.

So, I read the instructions - three (3) times!! before it dawned on me that I should just ask to make sure I knew what to do as it was becoming clear to me that I was seriously lacking in my reading comprehension skills.😳😱😭🤦  Thankfully, the author was gracious and helped table out the instructions for me (again).  And, here's how it went:

Step # 5 Arms
Round	Step
1	F
2	G
3	G
4	G
5	G
6	G
7	G
8	G
9	F
10	G
11	G
12	G
13	G
14	G
15	G
16	G
17	F
18	G
19	G
20	G
21	G
22	G
23	G
24	G
25	F
26	G
27	G
28	G
29	G
30	G
31	G
32	G
33	F
34	G
35	G
36	G
37	G
38	G
39	G
40	G
41	F
42	G
43	G
44	G
45	G
46	G
47	G
48	G
49	F
50	G
51	G
52	G
53	G
54	G
55	G
56	G
57	F
58	G
59	G
60	G
61	G
62	G
63	G
64	G
65	F
66	G
67	G
68	G
69	G
70	G
71	G
72	G
73	F
74	G
75	G
76	G
77	G
78	G
79	G
80	G
81	F
82	G
83	G
84	G
85	G
86	G
87	G
88	G
89	F
90	G
91	G
92	G
93	F
94	G
95	G
96	G
97	F
98	G
99	G
100	G
101	G
102	G
103	G
104	G	30 cm
105	F
106	G
107	G
108	G
109	G
110	G
111	G
112	G	33 cm
1	K2, P2	4.0mm
2	K2, P2	3.5mm
3	K2, P2
4	K2, P2
5	K2, P2
6	K2, P2
7	K2, P2
8	K2, P2
9	K2, P2
10	K2, P2
11	K2, P2
12	K2, P2
13	K2, P2
14	K2, P2
15	K2, P2
16	K2, P2
17	K2, P2
18	K2, P2
19	K2, P2
20	K2, P2
21	K2, P2
22	K2, P2
23	K2, P2
24	K2, P2
25	K2, P2
26	K2, P2	40 cm
Bind off

Yay!  It took me fifteen (15) days to finish the sleeves but I'm almost done!🥳🙌🎉🎊 Now, all that's left is Step#6, the collar (which I was able to finish in one (1) day) and it took me 21 rows, using my 3.5mm needles (and a lifeline!) to complete it).  Here's what my finished (un-washed & blocked) sweater looks like: 

Now, all we need is sweata weatha so I can enjoy my new sweata! 😉🙂🥰❄️🧥

 

UP-DATE: Here's what my sweater looks like washed and blocked:

As you can see, it looks so much better washed and blocked - it really evened out the stitches and "grew" slightly.  It fits perfectly and is very comfortable to wear.  I really love it! 😍🥰💕