Big Green Thing,

Or, knitting and reknitting

This is the first time I’ve knit a top down sweater. I don’t hate purling, and I don’t hate sewing seams, so I’ve never quite seen the point of all the contortions one goes through to get one of these things started. Then you are carting around an entire sweater everywhere, instead of just one sleeve, for example.

At any rate, it’s almost done. The pattern is the Vanilla Sweater, the yarn is Rauma Finullgarn. I’m pretty tired of knitting a whole sweater in fingering weight yarn, though I’m pretty sure I’ll love it once it’s done.

That bottom band is driving me nuts, though. I’ve ripped it out and reknit it three times (so far). The pattern calls for a narrow band of seed stitch with a split hem at the sides. I decided to do a narrow 1X1 rib instead, to match the edging on the sleeves and neckline. The first time I did the ribbing, I changed to a smaller circular needle, got it all done and bound off, and the damned hem flipped up no matter what I did with it. Ripping ensued. I tend to weave in ends pretty thoroughly, so I ended up just cutting off the ribbing to get the stitches back on the needles.

I have since ripped it back twice. The second time around, I not only used a smaller needle, but I also decreased a bunch of stitches around the circumference before starting the ribbing. I decided to do a knit 9, knit 2 together all the way around. I got to the bind off, it still flipped up. Out it came again. This time at least I didn’t actually bind off before I decided to rip. The next effort, I decreased more stitches, but forgot to switch to the smaller needle, so more swearing and ripping occurred.

This time I’m decreasing more stitches, alternating a decrease every six stitches with a decrease every eight stitches. If that doesn’t work, I may try a hemmed finish. Or I might burn the whole mess in the back yard.

Either way, this just needs to get finished. I’m ready to move on. I have the yarn picked out for my next sweater, and a swatch is done. Miraculously, I got gauge, including ROW gauge, on the first try.

That photo just does not due justice to the yarn. This is Beaverslide worsted weight, a merino/kid blend. It’s undyed, the color name is Cottontail, and it is just as soft as a bunny butt. The color in real life is more like my photo here than the one on the website. It’s a gorgeous silvery grey color.

Last but not least, here is my view as I’m lounging on the couch.

That’s Hank the Corgi, for those of you that are new here.