50% Herbology O.W.L.

Well, I managed to get my 50% OWL, just by the skin of my teeth - or so I'd thought. Turns out I had a math error on the surface area of my sleeves, and would've been fine without finishing the second half of the second front. So, I'm actually about 2/3 done at this point.



I have knit both fronts and both sleeves of my sweater, and started the hem of the back (four main pieces completed, and the fifth begun). The back is eight stitches narrower than the two fronts combined, as each front has four extra stitches to anchor the button band.

I have chosen surface area as my method of determining my 50% mark, as I am not using as much actual yarn as expected, despite knitting to gauge and getting pieces the correct size.

The surface area of the completed pieces are: 240 square inches for each front, and 240 square inches (roughly) for each sleeve. The surface area of these pieces totals 960 square inches.

The back will be equivalent to approximately the two fronts (seven stitches narrower for the length, but much less drastic neck shaping), or 480 square inches. The button bands, combined, will equal another 80 square inches, and the collar will be approximately 88 square inches. Thus, the pieces not yet completed will total approximately 648 square inches when finished.

Where it gets interesting is the part where I might change the tops of the sleeves and run the cable right up to the neck. That won't take much frogging, really, and it will actually make the front panels prettier. And the sleeves prettier, too, so I may end up going that way. Oh, the excitement...