I think that the pattern works really well with this colour.
I’m really enjoying working with this yarn and the pattern on the sleeve has helped ensure that the monotony that can often accompany the knitting of full length, adult sleeves is alleviated to some degree. The check pattern works really well with the dark colour and the stitch increases (to develop the shape and body of the sleeve) and decreases (for the raglan top) have, not surprisingly, been easy to incorporate into the pattern.
It has taken quite a long time, relatively speaking, to get the sleeve finished and it is at this stage of a raglan sleeve that I invariably find myself rechecking the pattern, just to ensure that I haven’t misread it because the finished sleeve looks very, very long. I haven’t, it’s just that unlike a ‘normaly’ sleeve, a raglan one finishes at the neckband with the last few stitches (17 in this case) not being cast off at the end but transferred onto a holder, from which they will eventually be knitted into the neckband. Thus the topmost part of a raglan sleeve forms the shoulder of the garment as well, hence the extra length.
A ‘normal’ sleeve finishes at the shoulder edge and the cast off edges of the front and back pieces are sewn together to form the shoulder seam, ultimately resulting in a much shorter sleeve top.
I have now cast on my second sleeve and I am rattling through the increases and should have it finished in less time than it took to complete the first one.
The Land Rover Owners Ex Wife 