Jagged Edges

A few days ago I hit a bit of a snag with my Ravi Junior.  This adorable little sweater is destined to be a booth sample.  When I knit samples, I almost always follow the pattern as written.  When a person sees a sample in my booth and then buys the pattern, I want them to be able to knit something that resembles the sample.  If I make a bunch of modifications to the pattern, then I have to explain that I did this, that and the other thing.  It's much easier if I just stick to the pattern.  Sometimes that can be a challenge - I enjoy tinkering with a pattern as much as the next knitter - but in the long run it's easier if I knit it as written.   

Back to Ravi Junior.  I was motoring through the sleeves.  I finished the first one and paused.  

The jagged underarm line was slightly irritating, but I had followed the pattern as written with one decrease on each side of the underarm marker.

In an attempt to be faithful to my self-imposed rule, I continued on to the second sleeve, hoping the irritation would fade away.  These nagging knitting aggravations are like growing out your bangs.  There comes a stage where the bangs are a nuisance and in your eyes.  If you can get over that hurdle, you'll grow them out.  If not, you cut them off.

About half way through the second sleeve the slight irritation became a major annoyance.  I didn't do any cutting, but I did do some ripping. Both sleeves.  Gone.  I had a hunch that if I worked just one plain stitch on each side of the marker and then worked the decreases, I could eliminate the jagged edge.  

Bumping the decreases over one stitch on both sides worked like a charm.  I had thought of doing this on my first go-round with the sleeves, but I won't lament the time and frustration I could have saved myself.  Since the underarm line is neat and smooth now, I don't mind knitting these sleeves a second time.