THE WEE ARAN PROJECT

PART 3: CUFF & SLEEVE CABLE & STITCH PATTERNS

Well, this wee sweater is turning out to be very cute, even if I do say so myself. :)

CUFF
To figure ribbings with the percentage system, we will treat this sweater as if it were knit in all stockinette stitch, which it will not be, but the ribbings don't know that.

I will cast on, with #4 double pointed needles, 35% of my K number, so 35 sts. But wait...I need an even number to make my *k1,p1* ribbing work out evenly, so I will cast on 34 sts.

Work in ribbing (as above) until you have 1" of knitting. Let's stop now and do some math and thinking.

SLEEVE PLANNING
I need an increase row to accommodate the extra stitches need for the cable. The cable pattern I will be using has a 2x2 cross and then another 2x2 cross, so since I want the sleeve to be the same width as the cuff (EZ's idea for babies)I will increase 4 sts (2 per cross) to allow for the extra tightness of the cable part. And I will work theincrease row in purl...makes a nice definition for the beginning of the cable and DSS.

But wait: I need to make sure my patterns will all fit before I start.

PATTERNS
This Double Seed Stitch (DSS) pattern will be everything but the center panel of the sleeve.

Double Seed Stitch (DSS):
  (Multiple of 4 + 2)
      Rounds 1 and 2: *K2,P2* repeat around ending k2
      Rounds 3 and 4: *P2,K2* repeat around ending p2

All charts are read from bottom right to left...starting with Stitch 1, Round 1.
In this chart, these 4 rounds are repeated to make the pattern.


DSS 

 - means purl        l means knit

l l - - l l - - l l - -  4
l l - - l l - - l l - -  3
- - l l - - l l - - l l  2
- - l l - - l l - - l l  1
l l - - l l - - l l - -  4
l l - - l l - - l l - -  3
- - l l - - l l - - l l  2
- - l l - - l l - - l l  1

and the Center Panel will be:
Geez...I didn't save the name of it, and I can't even remember what it looks like, so it is time for...Name That Cable. Anyone who recognizes it...feel free to send in the name with the reference book and page # so we can all look it up together .


Wee Aran Cable (over 12 sts)

- = purl
l = knit
/ = twisted knit = knit in the back of the stitch
cn = cable stitch holder/needle
v v v v = sl 2 to front, k2, k2 cn
^ ^ ^ ^ = sl 2 to back, k2, k2 cn

/ - l l l l l l l l - / 16
/ - v v v v ^ ^ ^ ^ - / 15
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 14
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 13
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 12
/ - ^ ^ ^ ^ v v v v - / 11
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 10
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 9
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 8
/ - ^ ^ ^ ^ v v v v - / 7
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 6
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 5 
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 4
/ - v v v v ^ ^ ^ ^ - / 3
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 2
/ - l l l l l l l l - / 1

OK...let's put the sleeve together.
34 sts from the cuff + 4 = 38 sts.
38 sts - the wee aran cable (12) = 26 left for DSS.
26 - 2 = 24 divided by 4 is 6. PERFECT!

But Wait: I discovered how much I hate the cast on stitch at the base of the cuff to show on the top of the sleeve, so for those of you who would like that dangly nuisance to be at the bottom of the sleeve, do this: when you finish your last round of ribbing on the cuff, work 12 more sts in ribbing and place your beginning of the round marker here.

Now...all together, with our #6 (or whatever larger needles you decided to use) we will purl one round increasing 4 sts evenly as we go.

For newbies: increasing 4 evenly as you go= 34 sts (on the needle) divided by 4 (number of sts needed) = 8+. So after every 8th stitch, make a new stitch, and then work evenly over the leftover ones at the end. My favorite way to make a new stitch; knit into the stitch of the row below the stitch on the needle, and then into the stitch on the needle itself. This is a lifted increase and is quite invisible.

Place a marker at the end of the row. This gives us 38 sts and we will begin the sleeve pattern and work as follows:
Work Round 1 over the full chart of Wee Aran Cable (12 sts) and then the next 26 sts of Round 1 of the DSS chart.

Note: We have our beginning of the round happening just to the right of the first twisted knit of the Wee Aran Cable.....this will prevent a stupid pattern jog (or SPJ) from happening. This is the bane of circular knitting, and is always something to keep in mind when designing patterns that snug up against each other. OK...round and round we all go up the sleeve until the wee thing measures 5", which will be in a very short while. When you end a row, cross it off, so you don't get lost. When you end a chart, keep going, returning back to round 1 and do it again, line by line. When you are done, end your sleeve after completing a round 4, 8, 12, or 16 of the Wee Aran Cable. Write down where you ended up and make the second sleeve, matching it to the first.

Claudia atCountrywool

Esther S. Bozak
ebozak@cs.oswego.edu
URL: http://www.cs.oswego.edu/~ebozak/knit/ck-patterns/wee.aran/part3.html