Back, done!

After numerous fits and starts, here at last:  Chinese Lace, back.  I like the way the ribs and lace meld, I think the fit will be fine after blocking, I think I will like the mitering of the ribs at the raglan seams (unless, of course, I decide to go with the full lace sleeve, which looked surprisingly good--better than I expected--with the piece at left). 

In close-up, a section of the ribs, near the bottom, is noticeably sloppy; I was unhappy with the way that cursed far-left knit stitch in each rib tends to be looser (and therefore larger) than the others.  After trying to pull the yarn tight, keep the stitch at the tip of the needle, yadayadayada, I took a close look at the way the yarn wraps for each stitch.  In fact, when bringing the yarn forward from knit to purl, it travels farther than when moving from knit to knit, or purl to purl, AND farther than when moving the yarn back to go from purl to knit (hence those nice tight stitches on the right side of each knit rib).  Hmmm...what if I tried wrapping the yarn for just the purl-after-the-loose-knit stitch in the combination method?  It doesn't appear to travel as far when wrapped in that direction. 

Long story short, I tried that, and a few variations (both purl stitches in combination method, first purl stitch on wrong side of each rib in combination method, etc.), and as the photo shows, I succeeded mostly in creating a bunch of uneven stitches.  So for me at least, the "combination combination method" does not appear to work.  Hopefully blocking will smooth out those areas.  Onward!

Comments

[Suzann]

That is perfection. The ribbing really sets off the lace. There is a lovely flow from one element to the other. I think you have hit the jackpot with this combination. I can see how the full lace sleeves would be lovely against the more solid ribbing.
It has been exciting to follow your tinking of this complex lace pattern. BW would be proud, girl ;-)
I can't wait to see the completed sweater.

[Dipsy D.]

Oh, I absolutely love your Chinese Lace, it looks so great already - can't wait to see it all blocked and finished in all its glory! Great work done!

[Persnickety Knitter]

I have that same problem with ribbing (the loose last knit st). I tried wrapping the 1st purl st the opposite way and found that it did help a little, but not enough. For me the only way to get nice looking ribbing is to knit it continental style (I'm normally an English-style knitter). It's a lot faster for me that way too.

I really like your sweater so far. The lace-to-ribbing transition looks great.