A new take on UMA

I've done two UMAs, both in wool. Wool is probably the easiest fiber to knit with. It has give, moves easily between needles, and holds its shape. I wanted to do a summer weight UMA (and for those uninitiated to the UMA, UMA is a shrug....a long story) in cotton or a cotton blend. I found a hand-dyed cotton at So Much Yarn that I took a liking too. Shades of khaki green, gold and black. Cotton is not my favorite yarn to knit with. It has no give and doesn't hold its shape. To compensate, you have to knit on smaller needles so the project takes longer. I don't like knitting with cotton but I'm going to give it a shot.

Since cotton knits on a smaller needle than the manufacturer usually recommends, a gauge swatch is always in order. The gauge swatch determines the number of stitches per inch. Once you know the number of stitches per inch, you can determine the number of stitches you have to cast on to fit the pattern. Left is my gauge swatch on a size 9 needle and my revised pattern based on the gauge.

I cast on with my smaller needle to do the ribbed cuff and 4-inches in, I began to have doubts. Knowing that cotton will expand, I had concerns I would have huge ribbed cuffs and it wouldn't look so hot. So I ripped it out and went back to the drawing board. I did another gauge swatch with a size 8 needle and recalculated my pattern.

Then I was like, why do I need to have a ribbed cuff? I'd seen a pattern earlier that day for a knit kimono and I liked the long loose sleeve. This UMA is going to have an Asian flair with clean lines, wide sleeves, rolled cuffs and a one-inch knit border versus a 8-inch ribbed collar. I am also knitting the sleeves on circular needles which will speed things up since I will not have to knit and purl. At 20 inches in, I will not connect the round and start knit purl and then at 40 inches, connect the round again.