more patts with probs

One of my co-workers bought me a stitch n' bitch page a day calendar. He haunts the discount stores and found it for 99 cents a week or so after the new year had started. So I enjoy peeling off a page a day (or two, are there calendar police checking to see if I read ahead) and seeing the yarns and reading the knitting goodies and reading a pattern on Fridays.

This week the pattern is a cabled pullover named Musique. It is knit with Crystal Palace Musique yarn which is, I guess, why the calendar people, or whoever named the sweater, named it Musique. Go figure.

The calendar people don't tell you this, but a very very similar sweater is available for free on the Crystal Palace site where they feature patterns for their Musique yarn. You can get it at this link.

Anyways, there are some issues with the pattern in the page a day calendar...

1) The pattern defines a special stitch which it calls C8F. It is a cable stitch done over eight stitches where are four stitches are slipped to a cable needle and held in front. The key error is on Row 6 where the pattern calls for a C4F. C4F is not defined as a special stitch though from the definition provided for C8F, I can guess what they mean by C4F. However, The C4F is knitted in the same part of a row where there is k8 on other right side rows and p8 on other wrong side rows, so I'm guessing the pattern should have said C8F.

2) There is some armhole shaping specified for the back but none for the front. Is this as intended?

3) The pattern suffers from a common malady where it is thought that people who have a larger finished chest measurement have longer arms. I think this is generally not the case.

4) The yarn requirements on the printed calendar are different from the free online pattern at the link above. The printed copy calls for 10,(10,12) balls but the online pattern calls for 10,(11,12) balls. I tend to believe the online version, that the medium size will require more yarn than the small size.

I emailed the calendar people and the Crystal Palace people and the pattern author who I tracked down through an equilter site she runs or owns or is affiliated with. The author answered.

1) She said the C4F must have arisen by some editing. The online pattern does not have this problem.

2) The lack of front armhole shaping is common between the online pattern and the calendar pattern. She said no one had ever noticed it. And she said that she would fix the online pattern.

3) She said sometimes their patterns say "or until desired length" regarding sleeve lengths. This one doesn't but I suggest you take your desired sleeve length into account.

4) And if you're making a size medium, get an extra ball of yarn.

more later,
j


p.s. Crystal Cove is knitted. And the little balls of yarn are smaller, but there was plenty. She is waiting to be seamed and blocked. And I'm not in a seaming mood just now. Tomorrow, I think.