Gauge The Situation: The DK-Weight Sweater and Updates

The part of me that's sure you must be sick of hearing about me and how I'm feeling is at odds with the messages I continue to receive and requests for updates about "that wretched illness". Feel free to gloss over this and check out the next section, but here's the latest...

I've been back at work since Monday. I'm still very tired, certainly not "myself" but my energy has been increasing each day, not diminishing, despite returning to regular life. Most definitely, my mood is more stable for being back amongst friends, colleagues and some regular routine. Depression - not something I'm prone to, thankfully - is an incredibly difficult condition to navigate, even if it's circumstantial and short-lived. I have a lot of respect for people who struggle with chronic illness of any sort. To be with equanimity under those circumstances takes tremendous strength and grace.

I did go back to the doctor on Tuesday. She believes that the prednisone, prescribed to open my airways, is the cause of the ulcers I now have lining my throat and which, unsurprisingly, make it feel more constricted. Ah, the irony. It's also one of the reasons, she suspects, that sleep has been so elusive. On the topic of sleep, well, that's been a challenge peeps. A real challenge. As of Monday, I'm tapering the prednisone as quickly as possible (but safely) and now I'm also taking something to help me to sleep. For the past 2 nights I've actually slept for 6 hours in a row. That's insanely good. The regular me sleeps 9-10 hrs a night . I'm one of those people who burns energy while she's awake and then seriously needs to recharge. The whole, circadian rhythm mess-up, sleep no more than 2 hrs thing, has been rough. Having said this, I'm not going to take another pill tonight. I don't want to overuse this drug. But it's good to know I have something to work with to re-establish my natural ability to sleep. Here's to some REM!

Now, on the more creative topic: Which DK-weight sweater will I make??

Well, y'all have convinced me that they're all too good to pass up! I intend to make 3 of the 5. Maybe 4. The only one that's out is the Flutter Sleeve Cardi (the one I liked least to begin with), thanks to some helpful advice from some of you.

For the Gauge the Situation series, there can only be one though - or this series will never end. And that one is Bettie's Pullover.

Why?

• It's not a cardigan. I think I have enough cardigans right now. And hand-knit cardies do come with some structural challenges at the button band. I'm not saying that they can't be averted with some careful construction, but I'm not necessarily interested to continue on that learning curve just now.

• It's very retro-inspired but, if perfectly-fitted, will be a fashion-forward finished garment. Of the finished objects I've seen, some have fit very well, IMO. Alas, the sweaters that don't fit well (or which aren't knit very evenly) really do fall short. I hope I've called this one on sizing (see below) because I sense it will a key element in the success of this sweater.

I have swatched the fan and feather pattern and stockinette in a variety of needle sizes (the sweater uses 3 needle sizes throughout) and have discovered that determining gauge in anything other than stockinette is pretty freakin' subjective.

I also realize, having just made the Siivet Pullover (and it's a good 2 sizes too big in the bust in the smallest freakin' size, with slightly modified gauge, admittedly) - that I have to just start making things rather small and dealing with bust issues on the fly. What that will mean will likely depend on the complexity of the project and whether bust short rows are feasible. On the topic of the Siivet. I think I'm going to serge the crap out of the side seams and call it a day. Then, at least, I'll have something wearable. But to be honest, it's actually a pretty dull sweater on me. It doesn't play up anything. The knit is very simple, as is the shape. Boat necks (even very narrow ones) don't play up the best elements of my narrow frame. I'm not feeling it.

I'm totally sick and tired of following every math sequence, triply over thinking things and then making sweater-after-sweater that's just too big. This time, and it may be crazy, after swatching and thinking and wondering, I'm just going to make the size 32. Yeah, that speaks to 5 inches of negative ease, but most of my handknit sweaters with 3 inches of negative ease still seem too large. I have to take into account a) hand-spun yarn properties and b) my own uniquely narrow frame. My bust circumference may be 37" (most of the time), but my under bust, over bust and shoulder measurements are clearly an XS.

Make no mistake, sizing in hand-knits and sizing in hand-sewn knitted/jersey/stretch garments are not the same animal. I keep applying my sewing sense to sizing of hand knit sweaters and it's just not working. There's a woven, manufactured durability to most stretch fabrics that I do not find in fabric that I've knit for myself. The properties of hand knits (even at a known gauge), at least as they apply to me so far, lead to a very elastic finished product. So I'm going off-road.

Here are today's question, sweater knitters (especially those of you who also sew):

• Do you find your hand-knitted sweaters to be much more loose and drapey (even with a good understanding of gauge and what size item you should be getting at the end)?
• Is this in contrast to sewing commercial patterns using purchased stretch fabric?
• How have you mitigated this? (Making smaller sizes? Targeted size reductions vs targeted size increases, for example?)
• What do you think of my final DK sweater choice? (BTW, the blocked swatch seems to hold the fan pattern beautifully but without stiffness.)