So Very Close

If all goes according to plan, I should have a finished sweater tomorrow. I started seaming on Tuesday night and got both sleeves set in, the side seam and sleeve seam on one side done, and the second side seam started before it was time to hit the hay. Last night I finally made it to knit night, and I used the time to finish the seaming and pick up for the first button band. I finished that band when I got home and picked up for the second. This evening, I'll finish that band and tackle the neckline. All that will then be left is sewing on the buttons.

I've mentioned that I don't really care for seaming, and I must admit that I have similar feelings for picking up stitches. I don't have an issue with the actual act of picking up the stitches; the frustration lies in trying to pick up a specified number. I've never managed to do it correctly on the first try, leading to further attempts and more time wasted. For this pattern, the number to pick up on each front was the same for four sizes, which didn't seem quite right to me, so I picked up approximately three stitches for every four rows, with a little bit of fudging at the top and bottom, and made sure I had a multiple of four plus two so the ribbing would work out. I ended up with eight more stitches than specified, which seemed close enough to me.

This is what a purple sweater looks like (without flash) on a rainy day.

Amazingly, when I sat down to pick up for the second band, I got the same number of stitches on the first try. Clearly, that number was the right number! I've marked where the buttons will go, so now I just have to line up the buttonholes. I'm putting the top button in the neckband to make the top of the sweater lie a little better, but that will be the extent of my modifications. It seems like the sweater will fit well, and having seen a preview of the weekend's forecast, it's not out of the question that I'll get to wear it once before it's time to pack all the woolens away.

I'm currently on "spring break" with Rainbow, which means that we were off today and will be off tomorrow. The weather was nice earlier today, so after running an errand, we walked up to our local shopping district, did a little shopping, and had lunch outside. It started raining shortly after we got home, so we settled in to relax for the afternoon. I did some spinning and managed to finish up my second bobbin of my Southern Cross Fibre Bond/silk and start my Fat Cat Knits Noble Dragon. I'm looking forward to some more crafting time tomorrow!