More Whisper Progress

This weekend, I made much progress on my Whisper Cardigan! I finished the ribbing and all of the short rows on the last section, including about an inch of fabric all the way across the back. I was able to try it on, and it looks like it is going to fit beautifully. When I picked up stitches, I wasn’t quite sure how many it should be, because I had knit the back somewhat longer to increase the pattern size. To figure this out, I divided the number of stitches the size L calls for in the pattern by the approximate number of knitted rows. (This last number I calculated by multiplying the number of rows per inch from the gauge times the total length of the back.) I took that number, roughly .75, and realized that I could just pick up 3 stitches per 4 rows and get the same ratio. There is just a slight gather to the stockinet pieces on both sides of the ribbed section. When put on the body, this ribbing stretches just perfectly, allowing all of the other stitches to lay beautifully flat. This type of work, especially when it comes out so well, gives me great satisfaction.