FO: Rusted Root

Thumbs down on this one, folks.

Pattern: Rusted Root, by the Zephyr Girls. Size in between the 32-35" and 36-39".

Yarn: Berroco Touche in Iris. 6 skeins.

Verdict: Blah. From the front, this knit doesn't look so bad (except for that weird spot where I joined a new ball of yarn. Looks like I have a nubbin' a la Chandler Bing). But, here's what's going on in the back.

Droopy Droopy Droopy.

In case you need to see it up close.

Did I know this was going to happen? Well, yeah. Kind of. When I tried it on as it was being knit, I had a suspicion that it was going to end up too big. But, given the stitch counts and gauge I thought I was getting, I was convinced it was going to end up too small. I think in the end, my gauge grew and ultimately screwed up the fit.

I also think that the waist decreases on only 1 side of the marker made this fit fine from the front but droop in the back.

Modifications: When I got to the point in the pattern to separate the sleeves, only 42 rows had been completed. At 7 rows to 1", this made for a 6" raglan seam. For me, that is WAY too tight. So, I did some more raglan increases, but I only increased in the sleeve section (thinking I didn't want the body to be bigger, but I guess that didn't matter after all!). To compensate for my increases in the sleeve, I did more decreases in the middle, mimicking the decreases that create the "poof".

I think this part was successful for me. I got a comfortable sleeve fit and kept the poofiness.

So, what does the future hold for Rusted Root? Not sure yet. The Touche is a great, soft cotton, so it will probably be frogged and used for something else. I really do like this pattern, but I would consider some serious modifications before trying it again.