Update on the baby sweater

UGH! I had to re-write this post, as Blogger decided to puke when I tried to publish it before.

I finished:


the front panels

and one:


sleeve

and I cast on for the second sleeve and knit past the ribbing and through the first set of increases I have to count rows for. I had to cast on twice, because the first time I accidentally cast on with the larger needles. I didn't even notice until I'd done all the ribbing and was about to start with the increases.

I love the way the front panels look... they remind me of a mosaic, and they have and interesting raised texture, too. I know I still have to add the button bands, but they seem too narrow to match the back. The sleeve, on the other hand, seems huge. I know that's just because it's all layed out flat.

I'm really impressed with myself for sticking with this when I want so much to get to work on other things.

I have a question I'm hoping someone can answer for me. Take a look at this:


Closeup of ribbing

Does anyone know why the ribs seem to get smaller as they go up? The ribbing as a whole gets larger as they go up, and the ribs on the reverse side look a lot more straight from top to bottom. I don't like how uneven they look, but I don't know what to do about it... it looks the same on all of the pieces I've done so far. I used the knitting on cast on method, if that makes any difference. Is there anything I can do to make the ribbing look like it's supposed to (with this that's already done, hopefully, but even if there's something I can do different the next time to make it work, I'd appreciate the info)?

Thanks in advance for any advice.