Not Much Progress

I wrote to Blogger yesterday about my picture-posting problems, and am promised an individual reply -- pretty good service, if it happens, for a free resource. Just for today, I won't struggle with a picture.

I knit some more of the ribbing of the new Fair Isle sweater last night (and didn't sew the buttons on the Baby Surprise -- I sort of figure, if I can't post a picture here, what's the use? although that's not a very good excuse). I kept pretty good notes in my Fair Isle knitting days, and I think the sweater that fit Helen then will fit her sister Rachel now, so I cast on the same number of stitches, and was grateful to be reminded by my notes to cast on a number divisible by 2 but not by 4, so that the k2/p2 rib can have a knit rib at either side of the front opening.

The notes don't say whether I started in the round, with a steek, or knit the ribbing flat as I'm now doing. I'll switch to the round, with a steek, when I start on the colour pattern. Once I've added a steek -- I've been re-reading Alice Starmore on the subject -- there will be an edge stitch on either side of it, from which I will eventually pick up stitches for the front button band, to be knit outwards. But the ribbing won't have an edge stitch. I doubt if this will matter much, but it worries me a bit. I always knit first and think later, and it really isn't the best approach.

My old notes say that Helen herself sewed the buttons on the original sweater.