My Sempre pullover is shaping up quite nicely. This traditionally blurry String or Nothing photo of the growing back really does not do it justice.
I like the haphazard arrangement of stripelets – that some almost align and others are flat mismatches with their neighbors. Working this yarn in strips is very quick. The fabric is quite nice, too – very light yet opaque. I’m on my third ball, and as you can see, am about 80% done with the back. At this rate I should have just enough yarn to finish the main pieces, although I may still need a contrasting yarn for the ribbings.
Working this has also been not as difficult as I feared. I’ve got my Sweater Wizard print out of the directions, including a nice thumbnail schematic. I’m working the strips to the schematic, using the program’s output to guide shaping. If you do this remember that the print out is for shaping a piece that’s knit horizon to horizon, and is symmetrical on both sides. If directions say something like “bind off 5 stitches at the end of the next 4 rows” know that working one strip at at time you’ll need to bind off 5 stitches at the beginning of the next two right side rows on the first strip (counted across the back, from right to left), and 5 stitches at the beginning of the next two WRONG side rows on the final strip. Sounds confusing, but taking it one strip at a time it has been relatively easy to get my tiny brain around the shaping.
I am planning on continuing around, joining the first strip of the front to the final strip of the back, producing a body tube that’s not joined at the shoulders. When I get to the shoulder strips (the saddle part of the saddle shoulders), I’ll work them back and forth as a strip that starts at the neck edge and continues to the cuff, starting out by ping-ponging between the upper edge of the front and back. Once that’s done I’ll work the rest of the arms off the sides of the now-established center strip. But the sleeves are a ways off yet. First I have to do the front and its deep V-neck.
String-Or-Nothing 