Raspy (sans Rasp)

It's been finished for almost two months... and the post is finally here (many of you have been inquiring...)!

Pattern: 'Raspy' by Kim Hargreaves
Source: Rowan 'Denim People'
Materials: Elann Den-M-Nit in 'Mid-Indigo' (17 balls)
Needles: US 7 Addi Turbo 32" circulars
Started: 04 June 2006 | Finished: September 2006

Modifications: Many! The most obvious is that I omitted the dropped-stitches. This may seem ridiculous to many of you, I realize, as the dropped stitches are Raspy's "thing." I went back and forth on the issue in the beginning - as far as the actual knitting goes, dropping stitches would be a lot of fun. In the end, though, I thought I'd get tired of the sweaters "gimmicky" quality much more quickly. And I still liked the idea of a denim raglan pullover enough to feel fine about that decision. The pattern is written for the ladies, so I took out all waist shaping and added the necessary length to body and sleeves. The fit turned out well, despite my fear of shoddy calculations (there's a 20% shrinkage in length with denim after the first wash.)


The neckline was the other big modification. The original pattern calls for a wide boat-neck. You can see the original version here. Not only was this too wide for my tastes, but the front and the back are the same height - meaning awkward, uncomfortable fit, complete with neck-bunching, etc. I changed the neckline to be shaped more like a crew neck. I continued raglan-decreasing on the back side for an inch or two more to raise the back neck. I sloped the top of each sleeve using short-rows and shaped the front as a standard crew neck (also using short rows.) Here's a shot of my modified collar:


Oh - and I knit the sweater in the round. Surprised? I really liked the reverse raglan seams in the pattern and wanted to keep those intact, so I only knit body and sleeves in the round until the armholes. Despite all of my urges to join all three pieces a la EZ and shape the yoke in one piece (obliterating seaming altogether), after binding off stitches for the underarm, I knit each piece flat from armhole to neck. I slipped the first stitch of every row in order to make lining up the seams that much easier (I also like a slipped-stitch selvedge a bit more than a regular one - its cleaner), and I seamed it all together at the end to get those cool, bulky seams.


Its true what they say about denim - its comfortable, durable, and the color is amazing. You can beat the crap out of it, toss it in the wash, and it comes out looking even better. It softens and fades with wear, while still looking presentable - a quality that I wish more of my clothes (that are not jeans) had.

All in all, I'd say it was a success. Wool, however, is still my weapon of choice. Wool, you'll always be my number one.