Knitting on the road May 9, 2008

We’re traveling to Cincinnati tonight so that Marc can see his Mom before Mother’s day. Going out of town, even if only for a night, always inspires in me a frenzy of casting on for projects. After all, what am I to do when I’m awake for 4 hours after everyone goes to bed at 10 pm? I’m not even sure that I went to bed at 10 when I was eight years old, but to be fair I come from a long line of insomniacs, so my sleeplessness is kind of a family tradition. Marc loves to stay with friends and relatives when we go out of town, and here is one place where we really differ. I like to have my own hotel room, my own tv, and the ability to not feel like a guest in someone’s home (it always makes me nervous, no matter how nice they are… I know my habits are different from theirs.)

All things considered though, I suppose I should just be grateful that Marc doesn’t want to go camping. My last boyfriend before Marc liked to go camping, especially when it was freezing cold outside. It was one cold November morning, huddled around a campfire under a blanket watching him come back from an early morning hike to get excited about eating the MREs his friend gotten for him that I had the thought “perhaps this is not going to work out.” You see, I don’t think that being cooked on a stick automatically makes things taste better, and that is a fundamental philosophical difference.

Fortunately, there is no chance of Marc asking me to go camping, and because of that I think I can live with staying in other people’s houses every once in awhile. At least, so long as they can live with seeing how grumpy I am without coffee made from my own coffeemaker.

Anyway, I have gotten off track (as I so often do… I am very easily distracted.) I couldn’t decide what to cast on for. I have Tuscany on the needles, but I’m not in a hurry for it to get finished - I won’t wear it for awhile anyway. The humidity levels are already beginning to rise here. You know how some people are AC people and some want the windows open? Marc wants the windows open, but I can’t stand how sticky that makes everything. Actually, I’m more of an “AC only at night” person, because that’s the only time I get hot. I rarely use AC during the day because I’m cold natured.

And… off track again. Anyway, I cast on for 2 different sweaters because I couldn’t decide. The first is Joy from Nectar.

I’m really enjoying knitting with the denim, and the pattern is fun. The scalloped cast on took forever, but the effect is really pretty! The only thing I don’t like is the lack of a chart for the eyelet pattern - it’s one of those that says things like Rows 30-37: Repeat rows 1-7. I find those a little hard to keep up with.

At the same time, remembering that I wanted to start another tank, I cast on for the Drawstring Camisole from the Summer IK. And then I messed up the lace 5 times, ripped out and started again. Now I think I’m on track (I was having trouble figuring out how many stitches to keep in stockinette at the edges when I can’t complete a pattern rep in my size.)

This time I seem to be on track.  I’m knitting the XS, which has a 30″ bust.  I hope the size works out ok - my commercially made knitted tanks measure about 30″ in the bust, so I should be fine, it just seems small.  I did notice that my swatch stretched easily, so I think it could use some negative ease.  I love knitting with Cotton Glace, but it is harder on the hands than the denim.  I really love Rowan yarns.  I think the RYC line is often overpriced, but the Rowan line yarns are great quality - I have not been disappointed yet!

And now I must pack.  I hope you’re having a great Friday!

Swatch day and library day May 8, 2008

Thank you for all the nice comments on my tuxedo top - I wore it out last night, and I am happy to report that it experienced no stretching or wrinkling (I was worried about both.) Now that the tuxedo top is finished I’ve been swatching, trying to figure out what my next sweater will be.

Yarn: Ella Rae Bamboo silk in grass green

Gauge: 5.25 st/in on US 5s

Notes: I love this yarn, and wish I’d bought more while it was on sale. It’s a very smooth soft yarn with a nice drape. I’m planning on using it for the Wallis cardigan from the new IK. It has a listed gauge of 20 st/4 in, but I think it knits up nicer a little tighter than that. I also swatched at 5.5 st/in and it was nice. Curiously, it has the same stats (yardage and fiber content) as Vickie Howell Love, but it is much cheaper. I haven’t used Love because it’s so expensive, so I can’t say if it’s really a copy, but I would consider this yarn first because of the nicer price point.

Yarn: Rowan Denim in Memphis

Gauge: 5 st and 7 rows/in on US 4 needles, prewashing

Notes: Denim is a surprisingly nice knitting experience. Of course, with a name like denim I expected it to feel like knitting with a pair of jeans, and it doesn’t exactly. It’s not soft, but it’s not unpleasant to knit either. And I just love this color to death - it’s so vibrant, and the way it’s faded in parts gives the swatch a more interesting look than a plain blue. This swatch has been shrunk, resulting in the promised row shrinkage and an ever so slight width shrinkage (the label says it doesn’t do this, but my swatch did.) I may use size 5s for the actual sweater, I will have to make another swatch! This is for Joy from Nectar.

Yarn: Rowan 4 ply cotton in Aubergine

Gauge: 7 st/in on US 1 (2.25 mm) needles

Notes: Curiously, this time last year I tried to make a 4-ply cotton sweater and utterly failed to get gauge on even the tiniest of needles. Since then I had given up on the idea, but I really want to make Jasmine! It would seem that in the past year I have learned to control the looseness of my purl rows, and now I can achieve gauge only going down 1 needle size (or is it 2? I’m not sure if this is the smaller of the US 1 needles.) At any rate, not bat at all. This yarn feels distinctly different in this dark color than the light green I used before - maybe the darker dye makes the yarn feel smoother?

Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton fine in Rue

Gauge: 6.5 st/inch in stockinette on US 2 (2.75 mm) needles

Notes: I’m swatching for the Apres surf hoodie here, but I’m not sure that I like this yarn for that purpose. It works ok, and the gauge is fine, but it feels rather thin and doesn’t have the softness the cashcotton would have. I also think the definition in the lace could be nicer. I’m just worried that the cashcotton might set off my allergies. I could make it in a wool silk blend though, making it a little more of a winter hoodie. I’m not sure, and at any rate I won’t get to this design for awhile, so I can mull over my choices. I think the Cotton fine would make an excellent summer scarf or stole…

I was hoping to start the Printed Silk cardigan now, but my yarn is not here. I’m a bit annoyed with the store I ordered it from… they have had my order for almost a week with no word, and they have yet to respond to my email inquiry either. If it’s backordered I would like to know so that I can order it somewhere else. Ugh… so annoying! In the meantime I can always start another short sleeved project to tide me over… I prefer to knit all my short sleeved sweaters early so that I can wear them all summer. Come autumn I get cold in a hurry, so they have a limited wearing season.

Today is Thursday, which also means the day that I go to the library! Since I was sick all week I read an embarrassing amount, some of it really bad, but I do have 2 books to recommend.

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell, is a sort of humorous travelogue, written as the author travels around visiting artifacts of presidential assassinations. Sounds grim I know, but I really loved this book! The author is a commentator on This American Life, and Marc and I are big NPR junkies (oh yeah, we’re cool!) and that’s why I initially picked this one out. It’s a strange book, and a little hard to explain, but if you like humor or travelogues or both I suggest picking it up!

Girl in a Box by Sujata Massey is one of a series of mysteries starring a half Japanese detective named Rei.  This is the first in the series I have read, but I’m planning on picking up another at the library this afternoon.  Rei goes undercover at a Japanese department store in this one.  There is a mystery, involving laundered money and gangsters, but what kept me interested was the detail about Japanese life, particularly the workings of the department store in question.  I have to admit I have a weakness for mysteries, but there are so many poorly written ones that finding anything decent can be a real trial.  This book was well written, and I really cared about what happened to the main character.

FO: Tuxedo top May 7, 2008

Pattern: Tuxedo top by Theresa Schabes, Interweave Knits Summer 2007

Yarn: Berroco Naturlin, 5.5 skeins in Cinnamon

Needles: US 2, size E crochet hook

Mods: I left off the ruffle around the lace panel because I like things a little more tailored. Otherwise knit to pattern specifications for the 32″ size.

I’m finally feeling a little better (but still with laryngitis) but the cold has given me a new sweater!  I’m so glad that I decided to knit this! I had initially liked the design in the magazine, but I didn’t like the color and I think perhaps the sample was a little big on the model. I saw the yarn when it came out this spring and immediately fell in love with the cinnamon color… but what to knit with it? Naturlin is a blend of linen and rayon, making for a knit that feels like linen but isn’t nearly as hard on your hands. It contained occasional vegetable matter and was pretty splitty, but nonetheless I loved this yarn and would recommend it highly.

The pattern was well written and for the most part clear. There was a lot of finishing. You knit the lace straps separately and then seam them on, and then go around everything with crocheted edging. This resulted in a lot of ends to weave in, but it was worth it! One of my favorite parts is the place where the lace straps meet the body - you join them using a crochet stitch on the outside for a decorative effect. The lace pattern was a little annoying (I hate doing p2tog in the back loop) and I wish it had been charted, but it turned out ok. This yarn is not recommended for lace because of the splitting.

I had some tension problems while knitting the back until I figured out that I was pausing in the middle of rows. I had to consciously tighten the yarn when I started knitting again. I haven’t had that problem before, and I blame it on the yarn, which had zero elasticity. As a result the back of the sweater is 1″ wider than the front, but you can’t tell. The yarn softened up considerably after being blocked, and is very light and drapey. Unfortunately, due to the rayon content, it is hand wash only, but I can live with that since I can’t bear to machine wash my handknits anyway.

The fit is very flattering, somewhat surprisingly. I was worried about the swinginess, but it’s not too much at all. I did not add any length to this, which was a good decision - any longer and it would have hit at my widest part and been less flattering. I would recommend this knit to anyway - I have yet to see an FO that isn’t beautiful! Don’t be intimidated by the small gauge (25 st/4in.) It’s inspired me to start swatching for more of the small gauge projects in my queue!

The sweater that sickness built May 5, 2008

“Nooo” says Sarah Jane, “You don’t need more photos of the knitting. Look at the cute instead!”

Yesterday I went to work, which in hindsight was possibly a mistake… I made it through my obligations, but then immediately felt 10 times sicker… so I stayed home from work today. I will have to make up the day later, of course, since I don’t actually get sick days from my teaching job (Oh how I long for sick days!) but at least I got to stay home and knit! My unexpected illness has resulted in the tuxedo top being very near completion, while I was expecting this top to take at least 2 weeks. I’ve finished the front and back, and knit the 2 lace straps. I’m waiting for the front to finish blocking so that I can knit the lace inset. I think I’ve decided to go with the reverse stockinette, but I’ll see when it dries. My tension on the front piece is much nicer, and I don’t care as much about the back.

I got my copy of Nectar in the mail today, along with the denim yarn to make Joy. My mailman said “Look, more yarn” when he handed me the package… I think he’s on to me.

It should be interesting - I’ve never knit with denim before! I was relieved to see that my stashed Rowan yarns will work nicely for Jasmine and Dawn. Everything looks nicer in person, and the book is really just lovely. I also was pleased to see that I can use the frogged All Seasons cotton from Manon to make this design, Honey.

I really like the way the cables are shaped at the bottom… it reminds me of the Nantucket Jacket, but hopefully this sweater will not give me linebacker shoulders (I’m a little bitter about that knit.)  I’m sure I won’t get to this before fall, but won’t it make a nice fall jacket?

Tonight while I’m waiting on the front of the Tuxedo top to dry I will do a little swatching for the designs from the new IK and Nectar that I’m interested in knitting.  I’ve already swatched the bamboo silk for Wallis and I love it, but I will post more about that tomorrow!

Planning May 2, 2008

It’s Kentucky Derby weekend here in Louisville. This weekend brings out the hermit tendencies in me - I live in a congested part of town that is usually filled with annoying, possibly drunken tourists (and locals) this weekend, and I prefer to avoid contact as much as possible. Combine that with a cold, and you have a recipe for staying in, eating macaroni and cheese (with cauliflower, so it’s healthy?) and teaching myself to read and knit at the same time.

I have 13″ of the back of the tuxedo top completed (a few more than in this photo,) which represents way more hours of knitting than I’m going to admit to you. Stockinette can be comfortably mindless when you’re in a cold medicine haze and reading a nice cozy mystery. Plus I had Dr. Who to watch, on my breaks from reading.

Marc just shakes his head; I think he can’t imagine why I would want to knit and read at the same time. Well… because now I don’t feel like either one is taking away from the other! Mind you, I wouldn’t knit or read anything demanding, but it is a nice way to pass the time.

I’m having a bit of a tension problem with this yarn - I don’t want to knit too tightly, but linen has zero elasticity, and I get occasional loose rows. I’ve decided not to care about them, and wait until the back is blocked to decide between reverse stockinette and regular.

I’ve also been reorganizing my queue on Ravelry (I went down from 7 pages to 3 by way of stern “are you really going to knit that” questions) and reassigning my stashed yarns. I got my Ella Rae Bamboo silk from Webs (guess they were wrong about that backorder) and it’s gorgeous - perfect for the Wallis cardigan I think!

I haven’t actually received my Summer IK yet, but this does not stop me from planning. I decided on Ella Rae Silkience, bought at the last Knit Nook sale, for the lacy tunic - I hope it works out! I also got out my yarns for the designs for Nectar that I want to knit (you would not believe the places I have stashed yarns in our 2 closet condo) so that I can swatch when my book gets here (I hope I have enough, but I think I should based on the prices of the kits… if not I will reassess my plans.)

Yes, if I am anything I am a planner. I am the type of person who cannot go on a vacation without 4 guidebooks and a typed itinerary. I like to make lists and check things off of them (thus: why I adore Ravelry, though I rarely use the forums.) I don’t do things on the spur of the moment, because I like to be prepared, and extremely spontaneous people make me cranky.

Marc thinks that the reason why I get along so well with our new cranky cat (Sarah Jane) is because we are just alike. He has a point. She will complain loudly if you do anything to upset her routine, which I think is adorable… she’s so grumpy, but at the same time wants to spend 24 hours a day in physical contact with one of us.  I think my reaction to a sudden bath in the sink would be about the same as hers.

Frogging is such sweet sorrow May 1, 2008

Thank you for the sympathy on my gauge tragedy. I’m in the process of frogging Manon, and it isn’t easy to frog a Norah Gaughan design, let me tell you. I want the yarn for (possibly) Honey from the new Kim Hargreaves book, so it needs to get a nice bath. Last night I sat with Marc and watched a few episodes of “How I met your mother” while I worked on Tuscany. Tuscany is a little frustrating because you are increasing every row, resulting in a scarf with very long rows quickly, but not much length to the shawl. I’m still committed to finishing though - my shawl love shows no signs of diminishing anytime soon! Besides, I think it will be nice to have a shawl that’s long enough to tie easily.

All of the Knitting Daily galleries for summer are up, resulting in me deciding to make the hoodie after all - I can’t help it, it looks cute on every single person in the gallery! I think I will use Cashcotton, as really it isn’t too expensive for my size. I have a complicated relationship with fine gauge knits. One one hand, my fine gauge knits are some of my favorites, because they are so light and easy to wear, and I think they look more polished than chunkier things. One the other hand, I will not be winning any awards for patience any time soon, so it’s hard for me to contemplate anything knit in 4-ply yarn. I have 4 or 5 knits like that in my queue already, so I decided to get started with one.

This is the tuxedo tank from IK Summer 07. Yarn is Berroco Naturlin in Cinnamon. You may recall that I tried to start this one before but had gauge woes. This time my gauge is fine, mostly because I scrapped the crochet cast on. I don’t think it will roll that much, being mostly linen, and if it does I’ll just crochet around the bottom. I hate doing crochet to start anything because it seems to take forever, so I avoid it whenever possible, and in this case it was making the bottom flare a lot more than I wanted.

After adding the Apres Surf hoodie to the queue I realized I now have 3 of Connie’s designs in my list. I have yarn for the diamond lace tank from the spring IK, and it will come up soon in my queue - I’m just waiting for the weather to be a little warmer. I have been on a mission to find yarn for the printed silk cardigan, but so far I have been thwarted. Last night I swatched three different yarns, hoping that one would work. I have a photo, but it’s just sad… none of them were right. I’m about to break down and buy the Pima Silk that a few people on Ravelry used, as all my subs seem to not be working, and I really want to knit this sweater! I have this weird thing where I don’t like to use the same sub as someone else because I don’t want it to seem like I’m copying their sweater, but never mind that now - I give up! I have swatched that diamond pattern at least 10 times, and I can admit defeat. Nothing in my stash will work, I will have to actually buy yarn (oh what tragedy, right?)

Marc has had a cold all week, and I seem to have caught it from him (it was inevitable.) I’m sitting here obsessively eating zinc lozenges (I don’t know if they shorten a cold, but they do seem to keep it out of my throat, which is usually my goal.) Thursday is one of my days off, and usually we eat dinner out somewhere (to avoid the weekend crowds) and go to the library afterwards.

I think this will be the week I try to learn to read and knit at the same time - the tuxedo tank will be adorable I think, but man that’s a lot of small gauge stockinette! I finished two books this week, which is a little under my average - I can usually do three, but I had a hard time with one of them. First I read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, which I really enjoyed. I love books which are set in an alternate version of our own world - it’s fun to pick out the differences. I also love anything involving time travel, so this was a great book for me! I highly recommend it for classic literature buffs, as it takes place in a world where the complete works of Shakespeare are required in every motel nightstand along with the Gideon bible, and the characters attend a performance of Richard III that brings to mind the Rocky Horror Picture Show . I’m looking forward to reading more of the series.

I also read I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson. I’ve read several of his travel books and really enjoyed them, but I found this book, a collection of essays written for a British audience about returning to America after 20 years abroad, to be a bit of a slog. It takes me forever to read books without an overall plot because I have no motivation to move to the next chapter.  He also came across as a bit more curmudgeonly than in his other books (he is cranky in his other books, but hilariously so) Not recommended, but I would highly recommend A Walk in the Woods by the same author.  It’s the story of his walk on the Appalachian trail, and it’s much better than that description makes it sound.

Tempting the knitting gods. April 30, 2008

We’ve all done it of course… switched needle sizes halfway through a project, thinking “it’ll be like extra shaping!” Decided to substitute an aran tweed in a pattern calling for sportweight silk. Said “Oh, I don’t need to swatch… I made a sweater with this yarn 3 years ago, gauge doesn’t change!”

In my case, I said “So yeah, I’ve made 3 Norah Gaughan designs before and they have all been cursed… but Manon will be different!” So I happily knit on, making triangles and oohing over the interesting peplum construction. Last night I finally finished the peplum and thought “Hmm… maybe I should try this on.”

“Shouldn’t these pieces just meet in the middle? It looks a little big. Oh well, nothing a good blocking can’t fix, right?”

*sigh*

Because of the way this is constructed there is not way to fix this without starting over.  I know I could pick up fewer stitches on the top, but it isn’t going to be enough to compensate for the six extra inches of peplum I’ve got going on.  I knew, of course, that my gauge in pattern is usually wildly different from my gauge in stockinette.  I’ve learned that lesson over an over, and yet somehow I thought that on this patttern they would match up perfectly.

So… froggity frog frog frog.  I’ll knit on Tuscany and think about what I want my next sweater project to be… hopefully it will be less ill-fated!

Summer IK April 29, 2008

I have spent most of my week being completely fascinated by the construction of Manon.

I’ve completed the right peplum and one sleeve, and I’ve begun on the left peplum. I love the All Season cotton - I think I may have found a new summer favorite! People compare it a lot to cotton ease, but to me it’s softer and doesn’t cause the crazy uneven tension that I sometimes get from Cotton ease. I like the color too, which is a heathered gray/green. This design is brilliant because while you are knitting it you can’t imagine how it’s ever going to turn out in a sweater shape, and then it does!

I’ve also been knitting on Tuscany, although I don’t think I love that pattern quite as much as Manon. It does make a nice break from the cotton. I’m just not such a big fan of all those K3togethers.

This is 4 repeats in. The pattern calls for 11, but let me tell you right now I won’t be making it there - thank goodness my yarn is thicker than the yarn called for in the pattern! Also: never let it be said that I shy away from bright colors. This yarn is practically radioactive it’s so purple, but I adore it!

This was a great week for new patterns - Nectar came out, and I have already assigned yarns to Jasmine (4 ply cotton) Joy (denim, had to buy yarn for this!) and Dawn (handknit cotton.) In addition, we got the preview for the Summer Interweave Knits. I must say, I don’t like this issue nearly as much as the Spring issue, but since the spring issue was one of my favorites ever I suppose that’s to be expected. A bit too much color work for my taste, but ah well… it’s still miles ahead of many of the past summer issues (I did like last Summer’s quite a bit, but the year before was icky to me.) I did order yarn to make the Wallis cardigan (are you shocked? it looks exactly like something I would make!) I’m going to try making it from Ella Rae Bamboo silk, which I ordered just under the wire on the WEBS sale. Unfortunately, the color I ordered (a bright green) is out of stock, but they will send it when it comes in, and it’s not like I’m going to knit this next week anyway. I also really like the Gossamer Stars scarf (2nd photo) and plan to use my Ivory Lady Godiva for it - I was saving that yarn for Manon, but I have fallen out of love with that design, and like the idea of making the scarf just a tad bigger. My other favorite is the Wakame lace tunic, but I’m not sure at all what yarn to use for it, and in addition I’m not sure on the size - it’s shown with 5″ of ease and it looks nice, but I fear looking like I’ve been eaten by my sweater. I also like the hoodie, but I probably won’t knit it, and the skirt is nice (but again I won’t knit… the smallest size would be too big for me anyway.)

In betweens April 25, 2008

I find spring and fall to be difficult seasons to knit for. I know that people say some sweaters are “transitional,” but really I find that I’m either hot or cold - I either want long sleeved or short, wool or cotton. It seems we went from 40 degrees here straight up to 80 with about a day of 60 in between. Even so, I don’t really want to knit sleeveless things yet, sow hen I was looking for my next project I ignored the nice camisoles and tanks waiting for me. I decided to knit another shawl, and at the same time knit a cardigan that might be called “transitional” by some people (although obviously not by me!)

This is the beginning of Manon from Norah Gaughan vol 1. This is the 3rd of her designs I have knit, and I’m hoping it will be the first I can wear. The pattern calls for Berroco Pure Merino, which is super expensive and also pretty heavy. I’m substituting Rowan All Seasons cotton in a discontinued shade (military) that I got for super cheap on ebay. It’s very nice to knit with, and the stitch definition is really wonderful for a cotton. I’ve been wanting to knit this sweater since I first saw it, but I was afraid to take the plunge. Yesterday I let Marc look at my queue and pick out a sweater for me to make, since I am so indecisive, and he picked this one. It was a good choice - the first triangle knit up quickly and was really fun!

This is my second new project, Tuscany from No Sheep for You. The yarn is Manos silk blend that I bought last week in Chicago. I adore the color, which I now realize almost exactly matches the Options needle cables!

Kim Hargreaves’ new book is for sale on her website, and of course I have ordered it. I’m pleased to see the designs from “Out of the Shadows” because I’ve really wanted to knit Joy and Glee. Many of the other projects are nice as well, especially Ripple, a sort of long sleeved version of Blithe. The first two below are knitted in Rowan Denim, which I have never used.  Is it nice to knit with?  I understand it won’t be the softest, I just don’t want it to hurt. Here are my favorites:

FO: Something Green April 24, 2008

Pattern: Something Red by Wendy Bernard

Yarn: Blue Sky dyed cotton in Pickle, 4.5 skeins

Needles: US 5

Notes: I’m more pleased that I thought I would be! After finishing this sweater up I tried it on (with sock monkey pajamas) and thought “What was I thinking making a flared sweater?” After blocking, and with more sedated pants, I like it much better (don’t we all go through that period of hatred with large projects?) I knit the raglan depth to 8 inches, far less than the pattern called for, and I could have gone even shorter - the sleeves could be smaller in my opinion. I also knit the total sweater 1 inch shorter than the pattern called for, partially to compensate for the shorter raglan deepth. I used a smaller button than the pattern called for, but I may end up replacing it, as the button seems to pull a little. I did use different increases for the flare - a lifted increase rather than the make 1. It’s barely noticeable, and I would definitely recommend the sub. I also did my increases in the middle of the group of knits rather than on the edges, again hoping for a smoother result. I picked up a ton more stitches than the pattern called for - 3 for every 4 rows and 1 for every stitch around the back of the neck. As a result I’ve avoided the curling button band problem, but my neck does not perhaps stand up as much as it might.
One of the most surprising things to me is how much I liked the blue sky cotton. Last time I used it was nightmarish, but somehow this time my hands had no trouble at all, and I was able to knit for pretty long periods with it. It did smooth out a lot with blocking, but it isn’t perfect. I can live with it though!

Marc really likes this FO, and that pleases me; sometimes I think he is puzzled by some of the things that I knit. I do really like the color, and I can see this being a sweater that gets a lot of wear - it’s very comfortable and will go with both casual and dressier outfits. I would recommend this pattern, just be sure to pay attention to the raglan length and plan out your increases carefully!