Cliffhanger

So I left y'all with a little cliffhanger last night. I know you've just been clicking refresh on your browser all day and evening waiting to find out what happened with the back of my sweater. Oops - no - I think I'm the only one who does that ever, and even then only more exciting things like when is the Yarn Harlot going to post about her visit.

Well, it turns out I had plenty of yarn to finish the sweater. In fact, I had almost a whole skein's worth left when all was said and done. It's blocking now - I managed to get it laid out while dinner was simmering, and after an evening with the fan on it, it's almost dry. I'll leave it till tomorrow, though, since it's getting close to bed time and I want to make sure it's completely dry before I mess with it.



I mentioned the neck shaping that Susan suggested after knitting her Sunrise, and it turned out to be easy. It's funny how I often find it much easier to figure construction out with the needles in my hands versus pencil and paper. I just inserted a couple sets of short rows on either side of the neck on consecutive rows. I might have been better off with another set, but it'll do.

In the mean time, this evening I went ahead and seamed up the sleeves as planned...



Then I tacked down the cuff hems. This sweater *is* going to be done in the next week! Woot! (and knock on wood)



Oh, hey, and I finally got to use a little set of gadgets that I've had sitting around for I can't remember how long. I have no idea when or where I got these - were they part of some secret pal exchange? Did I pick them up at a local yarn shop? Did I buy them at the Yarnery? I have no clue.



I hardly ever seam things up. I can't remember the last time I had to seam anything. These are for holding the pieces together and keeping them lined up while you sew. Not totally necessary when you're dealing with a striped sleeve where the color changes clue you in, but still kind of fun.

Oh, and in answer to LyndaLou's question, the Ravelry link to Sophie's blanket is here. It is my own undocumented design, but you can replicate it fairly easily by looking up the two stitch patterns in the referenced books.

Oh, and Shannon - the yarn is Wooly Stripes by Nashua in the Faded Blues colorway. It's funny - there are almost no sweater projects listed in Ravelry with this yarn, but I really like it. It wasn't exactly cheap to buy, but I just had to have it. Some of the other colorways are beautiful and bright, but I chose the blues because I figured I'd get more wear out of it as an everyday throw-on sweater. It's lightly spun single-ply wool. It's quite soft, but seems to be long staple and fairly tough. It would felt beautifully, but it also washes really well. I had knit most of this yarn into pieces for a different sweater, frogged and washed the yarn. It knit back up just fine, and the blocked pieces look pretty good so far. I think it will take wearing it a few times to see whether it pills.