This is the day when the "shape" I've been working on starts to look like something a person might wear. I work away at the garter stitch ridges I started yesterday until I have 13 of them (I'm making size 36). Then it's time to follow the instructions for putting the front neck stitches on hold. I never, ever, use those rigid giant safety pin things that are sold for putting stitches on hold. They're a one-way ticket to disaster, as far as I'm concerned. They're way too stiff and the stitches surrounding them inevitably get pulled out of shape. On top of that, they prevent you from trying on a garment to check for fit, and I'll want to do that before this day is out. The best thing to use for holding live stitches is a length of contrasting yarn. Simply thread the yarn through the stitches using a blunt needle, leaving nice long ends that you can knot together to prevent those stitches from going anywhere.
In this photo I'm actually using doubled strands of worsted-weight wool, the reason being that the wool is replacing a fairly fat needle. When it comes time to put these stitches back onto a needle, they won't have shrunk as much as if I'd used a skinny single strand of wool.
Let's analyze what's happening here. This jacket has a V-neck. However, only the lower portion of the V-neck opening is on the diagonal. The upper part is totally vertical. It's that vertical bit that's getting put on hold.
From here on, the knitting is going to be BACK AND FORTH, not around and around. In some ways it's a relief to be done with purling (except for the seam stitches, which will still be purled on the wrong side. I'll be making 4 decreases at the back neck for a little shaping, and decreases every second round continuously along the front neck to make the "V". I'm still changing skeins every second round and carrying the "resting" yarn loosely up the side of the piece. I have to pay attention to what I'm doing here to get the decreases in the right places. I'll keep track of my stitch counts every few rows, even though I've made this jacket several times before. I never underestimate my ability to make errors. For the first four right-side rows, I'll gain 2 stitches in total each pass (4 from the increases on either side of the seam stitches minus two from the decreases at each end of the row). When the back neck decreasing is done, I'll gain 3 stitches every right-side row (4 from the same increases as before minus the one decrease at the front neck). Hang in; there's not far to go.
To complete the left bodice, I need to put the side stitches on hold and do 6 more rows on just the back and the front. You'll see that the front has a short section of stocking stitch to punctuate the border.
Soon everything is on hold,
and it's time to try the left side of the bodice on. Excuse me while I go and do that.
