A.R.A.N. PROJECT

Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 07:48:51 -0500
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: KNIT: Aran 10-Sleeves.....the math police are sleeping!


Good morning all

Lovely letters of encouragement continue to find their way to my computer
screen...I am cheered by the thought that some new knitters are finding
the pattern understandable and (even) enjoyable.  You are the people I am
writing for AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!!!!  Some really wonderful knitters
helped me get to where I am today and I just want to put that generosity
back into the knitting world where it can do the most good. 

A note to people about the width or circumference of their sleeves and
their gauge:  As you finish your sleeve knitting, you can do some
measuring and see some interesting relationships that exist.  When you get
to the desired length of your sleeve, measure how many inches around it
is. Divide that into the number of sts you have (I have 80) and you will
get your ACTUAL STITCH GAUGE.  It's fun to go back and compare and see
what that number has to do with the stitch gauge recommended for your yarn
in stockinette stitch. Now, for even more fun, figure out what 33% of your
K number would be (if you were doing a stockinette sweater).  For my
sweater... 

56" x 33% = 18.48...so we are looking at a sleeve that measures about
18-19" around.  Does your sleeve measure that? It shouldn't be that big
because we are cabling, which tends to shrink the sleeve around or
INCREASE the gauge (from 4 sts=1" to perhaps 6 sts=1"), but remember we
are doing a lot of double seed stitch and in my experience, that tends to
expand the knitting or DECREASE the gauge (from 4 sts=1" to perhaps
3sts=1"), So, see what you get and just mull over what happened...it's
good for your designing soul to absorb these things and dwell on them.

ESTHER AND ISOBEL WHERE ARE YOU??? The rest of the Network is sleeping
with their calculators running wild. There's such an error in the sleeve
math that I want to scream "HEH!" but no one would listen...Remember what
Esther said: you won't truly understand a pattern until you can figure out
the math.  Besides, there's a little "something" that will fly in the mail
to you if you are the first few to find it... So, get out your notebooks
(or your SOs) and get cracking. 

Claudia who goes off for R & R at (yawn) dawn tomorrow but will next week
be at Countrywool overlooking Blue Hill in the Hudson Valley of NY State
in the USA and will EXPECT TO FIND lots of mistake-finding e-mail in her
mailbox!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Countrywool@berk.com
get the complete Anyknitter's Revolving Aran Network (A.R.A.N.) pattern
at: Esther's Knitting Page http://www.cs.oswego.edu/~ebozak/knit