Ruh Roh

Last night, as I was knitting on the Lots-of-Choices Top (aka the Too-Many-Choices Top) and decreasing every RS row for the V-neck portion, I came to the realization that something was dreadfully, horribly wrong. I've had this feeling before while knitting on this top, but last night it sidled right up to me and whispered in my ear.

"The V-neck half is going to be longer than the round neck half."

At least it didn't smack me in the face.

Yes, it's true. I've completed about two-thirds of the decrease rows. The top edge is just about even with the lower part of the shoulder slope. I was thinking that I would complete the V-neck half, then undo the bind off edge and the shoulder decreases, and knit to fit. Not the most elegant solution, but I can't think of anything better.

If that was the only problem, I'd be okay. But there's another, more insidious problem and this is a problem that I have no idea how to fix. The fabric is stretching vertically. It's stretching vertically by several inches, which means the modest armhole that dear Sally Melville designed can no longer be called "modest." Garter stitch does that; it's part of its raison d'etre, I think. And I was forewarned. But how does one extrapolate the final stretch factor from a 4-inch swatch? Especially when said swatch didn't show so much stretch?

The good news is that there are no side seams. The "seams" are front and back and are button closures. How do I remediate the armholes? I was thinking about taking the correct length of yarn and threading it through the armhole edge stitches on the wrong side. The yarn doesn't have a lot of stretch by itself; it should help support the armholes. Right? Does anyone else out there have any other suggestions?

The other option is to call it a vest, a la Annie Hall. But that will be a last resort.

No more knitting on the Too-Big-Armholes Lots-of Choices Top, not until I can figure out how to fix it.

Now my time will be devoted to the Leaves of Grass sock. I completed the heel gusset and the third lace repeat, and tried the sock on for good measure. The narrow heel seems to have corrected itself. The instep looks like it is being stretched just a wee bit, but it doesn't look terrible. And given the way the Jaywalkers stretched with wear, I should be okay (says she of the overly-stretchy top). I'm not real happy with the way the lace looks. The ssk and pass stitch is looking much nicer than the s1,k1,psso stitch. The psso bit looks loose. In addition, the pattern is not reminiscent of leaves of grass. Leaves, perhaps, or maybe flowers. But definitely not grass.