Having decided to finish the jumper, I spent Sunday afternoon knitting only to discover that the fair isle section of the sleeve was too tight. So I frogged most of it and reknit it last night with no decreases. Then I realised the sleeve was getting a bit long despite my calculations, so I reduced the second section of the pattern from two rows of crosses to one. It still came out a smidge longer than I’d normally make it, but not so much I’d worry about redoing it. However, the fair isle section was still a smidge tight – mainly because my tension with fair isle is still a little tight. And it was starting to look like I didn’t have enough purple yarn for the second sleeve.

I wasn’t ready to decide what to do – or face reknitting a second time – I turned my attention to the neckline. Instead of just reducing the ribbing, I decided to reduce the crosses to one row to match the sleeve. That way I could knit it in the right sized needle. So I frogged and reknit…

I’m happier with the neckline, though not 100% sure I like the fit, but I’ll reserve judgment until the jumper has been washed and blocked. But I’m really not happy with the sleeve. It looks odd when I try it on. It’s a bit too grippy for comfort. And this is how much yarn I have left:

I could hunt down another ball, but I don’t think I will. Why not?

1) I don’t fancy venturing out into the mad Christmas rush.

2) I’m thinking I might have to frog the sleeve and reknit it yet again. But colourwork knit in the round on such small rounds left me with a pulled muscle/strained wrist on Sunday. The thought of knitting the sleeve pattern two more times makes me wince. I’m considering just having the cross pattern, or no pattern at all on the sleeves.

3) I really want to finish this before the end of the year. It’s been a fun experiment, but I’m a over it. If I decide I really want the fair isle pattern on the sleeves later on, I’ll hunt down some yarn and duplicate stitch it on. Which will have the added benefit of avoiding my tension problems!