(Title thanks to Tokyo Police Club.)

Happy Friday all! I don’t know about you, but I am in need of a little extra time to slow down and remember what’s important.

I remain determined to finish my little sweater, but part of that resolve means proceeding cautiously, without my usual rush-rush-rush. So Sleeve 2 was measured before getting blocked. When it’s dry I’ll measure it again, and fit it into the armhole. Only then will Sleeve 1 get ripped and reknitted.

I am also listening to the math on Querido’s sweater. Quince and Company’s Osprey is supposed to be an aran weight, but I will swear to its being a bulky. I was getting gauge on the sleeves, but the resulting fabric was almost bulletproof, and my wrists were getting so tired that I was having a hard time psyching myself up to the knitting. So I decided to do the thing that usually sends my projects on a collision course with knitterly doom: I changed the gauge.

Math has never been my strong suit, but I’m trying to do it right. I knitted a little bit of sleeve, blocked it, and measured. I multiplied the stitch and row gauge by the desired sleeve size and compared my numbers against the pattern. I went down a sweater size and adjusted the rate of increase. Does that sound right?

Per experiences with my little sweater, I am measuring this sleeve in every direction every inch. But it is coming out the size I expect it to, and my wrists are no longer tired. Every time I knit on it, it gets appreciably bigger (an amazing thing when you have been spending months knitting with fingering and sportweight). The fabric even picks up less cat hair now. Always a plus.

You’ve basically seen what will keep me busy this holiday weekend: what knitting do you have lined up?