Tight Arming Catherine Parr

I love a good challenge. Alice Starmore's Catherine Parr really fits the bill of a good challenge. It's a heavily textured knit with great hem and neck detail. Even better, it's something I'm knitting with a new group of friends, making it a double bonus.

I finally cast on the 10th of November after doing two test swatches to re-adjust my gage. I have to admit, it's not a project that you can just casually knit without watching closely. I found I needed to frog several inches of a sleeve after getting the cable pattern on one side a stitch off.



So here's the progress so far.

The pattern is really stunning with all that texture in the stitch.



I started this project on the sleeve so that I could get a good idea of how it would look. Sleeves seem a great way to test a project on a small scale and much faster then working a whole body for 10 inches.

But after getting the sleeve past 12 inches and trying it on, I not really happy with the fit. The sleeve is way to tight and the fabric far to firm for my comfort. I'm one of those sleeve pusher, you know the type that scrunch the sleeve edge up toward the elbow. I also like a loose fitting arm. This piece isn't going to offer either.

Hmmmm, might be back to the drawing board on this one.