Uncooperative Alice

I seem to have done something terribly wrong, but I can’t figure it out.

Everything was fine, all the way through the colorwork. Then I divided for front and back. Fine. I’m following the instructions for the 43” bust, and when I end the division/armhole shaping I have 93 stitches–precisely the number the instructions say I should have. The very next thing I’m supposed to do is knit 45, place the center stitch on a safety pin, and put the remaining stitches on a holder. So I knit 45, put one on a safety pin and put the remaining 47 on a holder. Huh? if the one on the safety pin is supposed to be the center, there should be 45 on the holder. So maybe I messed up. I recount. Nope. Did I forget to decrease somewhere? Well, let’s see: 45+1+47=93. So… weird. Usually if there’s a mistake in the math, it’s mine. But after playing with the numbers and re-reading the pattern, I have determined the best course of action is to just knit 46, put one on the safety pin, and put the remaining 46 on the holder. Now the real fun begins.

I have followed the instructions, although I now have the extra stitch, which I account for each time the directions give me a stitch count. Yep. I still have one more. No biggie. The kicker is that after finishing the decreases, I’m supposed to “work even until armhole measures 8.5”. But at the end of the decreases, the armhole is m-u-c-h longer than 8.5”. This is going to be a problem. So, I figure now that I’m knitting flat, my gauge is bigger–I should have switched to a smaller needle when knitting flat. So I check my gauge. I’m actually getting BOTH stitch and row gauge. I’m mystified.

Now, I started this so long ago, I don’t remember what my gauge on the unwashed swatch was (I started it pre-ravelry, and I don’t seem to have written it down on the pattern, or anywhere else handy now), but I seem to recall that the swatch blocked out to gauge, which means I should be getting more stitches per inch right now, and that getting gauge in the pre-washed sweater indicates a problem.

So, I guess I’ll have to measure my gauge again on the bottom of the sweater, likely rip out the top part, swatch for the same gauge I got on the bottom, and use whatever size needles that takes to re-do the top.

Crap.