zip-it-cardi-along

I've been good and I've gotten 2 3/4 inches knit so far of that second sleeve. It's easier to make forward progress on the cuff as it is narrower but I will celebrate it for what it is. Progress is progress.

I still haven't finished with sleeve one but this way I can finish both sleeve caps at the same time -- or at least closer in time to each other so I don't forget how I did it (sometimes written instructions don't even help).

Zipper shopping? I don't deserve such an indulgence.

well, i have made the leap. i started putting the zipper in, by hand. i think if i were to do it by machine, i would have still wanted to baste it in so that the different materials didn't drag differently on a machine and get the zipper off kilter (before you ooh and ahh over my thinking of this, sop thought of it: he is much more skilled with the machine than i).


the zipper is a red, not bright, but not really rust either. i tried a green, a hunter green, and two shades of blue, but the red worked best with the gold yarn: it compliments and contrasts, is that posible?

it was a dark and stormy night. two hunters ventured out into the weather to track down the mighty 26" #5 YKK zipper. The bright blue, or red, or maybe a rust, possibly purple zipper were on their list of desired varieties. First stop, Hancock Fabrics:



inside they found - this:


not a zipper, but certainly a grotesque specimen of some kind of beast.

as well as this:


a zipper, but rather a dull blue. The hunt continued. On to Nuttall's Fabric Center!!


alas, no luck here either. in fact, they seem to carry the exact same zippers as Hancock.

and the same zippers as this fine spelling establishment:



yes, it is maddness, truly! no booty last night, it looks like the next hunt goes to the web!

I've started on a side project, but I know I need to get back on those sleeves. 100 stitches per row filled with uncertainty is what's causing the delay. I think I can, I think I can...

Here's my procrastination at work:

now you don't


ARGH! i had sop try on the cardigan and it was too tight. so, i blocked it, had him try it on again, and it was still too tight in the shoulders. so i ripped.

my advice to you? if you make this cardigan for a man, do the raglan decreases every THIRD row, not every other row as the pattern states (and yes, it is a pattern for a man).

I got in there last night and started working on the sleeves again. I knits a couple of inches at least. I can't wait to take photos and show you all what I've got done so far.

i joined the second sleeve to the body monday night and now have completed about 4.5 inches past the join.