Round and round,

The next few days will be about knitting around and around and around in single rib, whist I decide if there will be button holes or sewn on giant snaps, and what cast off I will use. I'm not even sure I know what buttons i will use, but I have a few options, vintage black Victorian glass, dark shell shirt buttons or something entirely new .... For now I am just knitting ribbing around and around on four long circulars like a weird variation on knitting on bendy dpns.

Knitting on four circulars

The second sleeve has been knit up to the point where the ribbing starts, and set aside. I have threaded a life line through the live stitches. I wanted to finish neck and front bands before finishing the sleeve, as I know that the neck band will 'lift' the shoulder, pull the neck in and so mean I will need a longer sleeve. When I worked the ribbing at the hem I set up two full rounds of tubular rib, ready for a cast off. Between then and now I decided I wanted to knit the front, neck and hem edges all in one piece, so I frogged the tubular set up back to single rib, and picked up the live stitches. I then picked up stitches on a slightly smaller needle right around the edge, the two front edges, and the neck. As well as using a smaller needle I picked up one in four stitches, my standard pick up ratio for stocking stitch.

Extension of hem ribbing,

I'm using not quite a smaller sized needle at the hem, a 2.5mm, as I really don't want this cardigan to be tight at the lower edge. The cardigan is knit on 2.75mm, which gives a nice firm gauge in sock yarn, I like my knits on the firm side, well cardigans and sweaters, shawls and scarves I like softer and loftier. I took extra care to make sure I picked up stitches along the same line on both left and right front ... The more i knit, the more i finish, the more I'm learning which bits to take care with and which bits don't need so much care. Picking up is One of the area that shows up as messy if I rush.

Pick up around neck edge

Around the neck and the front edges I used a 2mm needle, because I want those edges firmer and more stable. Using two different sizes of needle means that i will have to make sure i knit from ends of the needle the stitches i am working on. I picked up three in four stitches from the purl bumps of the long tail cast on and it looks like when I knit the neck rib the effect will be fairly seamless, almost like a provisional cast on. I plan to increase at each corner, two stitches, every second round. As for button holes .... I'm still thinking about those. I found an option in the big book of knitting and knitting school that looks promising but i'm not sure it works on a ribbing band as they show it worked on stocking stitch. Who knits stocking stitch bands?

Na Stella

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