May 02, 2006

Said the Rabbit to Monsieur Le Hubby as she spent TWO FREAKING hours sewing on a loooooooooooong neckband to the Holey Twisty Sweater* this morning.




We're almost there, people. I have knit the (seemingly) miles-long neckband separately and am sewing it on using free-loop backstitch on the right side of the work. I don't always use this technique, even when the pattern calls for it, but it's a good alternative to picking up stitches and knitting on a neckband in certain situations. [Read more about when I like to use the free-loop backstitching technique here.] I decided to do it for this sweater because:

1) The border of the neck is too uneven and holey and, as a result, will not make for a nice foundation row for picking up stitches. This is the main reason why.

2) I'll be able to do the tubular cast on for 2x2 rib so the neckband edge will match the hem and cuffs. This is just a plus, though. If I had picked up stitches for the neckband, I would have done a tubular bind-off for 2x2 rib, like I did for the knit-on neckband of a sweater I knit for Monsieur Le Hubby a while back.

I taught myself to do free-loop backstitch on the right side of the work by looking at the dinky little illustration provided in all Phildar pattern books while sewing a collar onto a sweater I knit for my Captain Destructo when he was a toddler, but I know that there are excellent instructions for it in Katharina Buss's Big Book of Knitting. Instead of rehashing what Ms. Buss has already explained in an excellent manner, why don't I just share another slideshow of photos I took during this morning as I sewed on this looooooooooooooooong neckband to the Twisty Sweater? I'll add my own personal tips that I've come up with over time to make the technique easier for me. Okay? Okay.

*I've re-christianed this sweater the "Twisty Sweater", because all those little faux twisty cables in the stitch pattern cause the WHOLE sweater to twist around slightly. I noticed this bizarre twisty action when I tried the sweater on my mannequin, so I'm going to give the sweater another major blocking session when I'm finished sewing on the neckband. Sigh. I feel a letter coming on....

Dear Twisty Sweater,

I wish I could bill someone for all the time I've spent working on you because I'd get a helluva productivity bonus at the end of the year if I did.

Yours,

Rabbit
President of "I Sure Could Use a Margarita" Finishing Club, Lyon Chapter

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