I spent yesterday evening working on the finishing of the Surprise. The shoulders are joined, some of the ends dealt with, and an edging knit for the neck. I thought I'd amuse myself by casting it off with a picot bind-off, but I don't like it. It detracts from the garter-stitch austerity of the whole, and will look thoroughly stupid if we get another boy.
So I think I'll frog it, and just cast off like a normal human being.
But that'll have to wait, as we're going to Kirkmichael today, in very gloomy weather. There will be no more bulletins from the knitting front until perhaps Sunday.
I don't mind the finishing process, in fact I quite like it, even darning in ends -- and I've done some of Kaffe's patterns in my day. The one thing I really hate is sewing on buttons.
I had meant to post a picture today of the yarn for my next project, which is deliciously displayed on a sitting-room sofa at the moment. But that will have to wait, too.
FWIW, a inishing tip that I gleaned from EZ and one of my lists: attached i-cord (after the thing is sewn together) finishes the edge of garter garments quite nicely. I used 3 (or was it 4?) stitches around the neck, front, bottom, all in one piece on the last baby surprise that I made.
ReplyDeleteDid the same thing with a tomten sweater (another of EZ's clever designs), but in a contrasting color.
Just a thought, if you feel it looks unfinished as is.
Welcome to the blogosphere Jean. I agree with you about the picot bind off, maintaining that garter "austerity" is a better thing. I like the idea of the attached i-cord though, do me a favour and see if it works, will ya?
ReplyDeleteStephanie
(Yarn Harlot)
Jean, I am happy to see you've become a blogger.
ReplyDeleteI've admired your fine knitting ever since we exchanged Rowan #4 for Principles of Knitting.
While I am not a fan of the Surprise sweaters (I have made one baby and one adult, and I find them awkward to wear), I think your color choices are quite lovely and subtle.
Kathy Merrick
Hi Jean, I knit a garter stitch baby sweater recently with worsted weight yarn. To finish the edges, I picked up stitches along the edges, and then bound them off on the next go around. It gave the same effect as I-cord, but seemed more in scale with the body of the sweater, since I was using a heavier (for baby things) yarn. Love your colors!
ReplyDeletePam