could you tell…

the difference? 

I’m always anxious to see the final product - on the Back, I opted to knit the plain lace from the first orange swatch, figuring it would save time over the two-step transfers of the outlined diamonds. Timed myself, 20 minutes for 101 sts wide by one 20-row repeat. Seemed pretty quick, got the Back completed in no time. Hung the cast-on row, knit 18 rows as  MAO instructions for the hand-latched rib and got ‘er done!

Now, you might think I’m spending continuous hours at the machine, but no! I’ve learned to pace myself! Break it up - I do one repeat (20 rows) and take a breather, even if it’s just to get a fresh glass of water, or take a photo or a real break and make a batch of cookie dough or whatever! 

For the Front, went back to the two-step transfers and what do you know, that 20-row repeat took 25 minutes, whoop-de-do! Used the stopwatch timer on the iPod and the Front was done in 2 hrs, 15 min! Was it worth the time-saving for the Back? No, but even if I didn’t tell you, not likely you’d have noticed, and my Christmas company sure won’t and I proved a point in my own mind anyway!

Just a few reminders, Cindy! 

At the top of the sleeve cap, shortrowed of course, after the RTR (remove, turn, rehang), knit a row for that garter stitch ridge and then, measure off 5X the width of the work to have enough yarn to make the loose row for the final cast-off after joining the sleeve.

You may have noticed the shoulder seams-used the outside seaming technique that has become my favourite method - I like the way it defines the shoulder when you have a good-fitting set-in sleeve but here, I also used it to cover up the fact that I forgot to flip the pattern for the second piece, the Front, and have the extra stitch at the left instead of the right, so the pattern doesn’t match at the shoulder…;))  Might be a good idea to read page 64 of HMMK which explains ‘flipping the pattern’!

I’m almost done, just the bottom rib on the Front and the final seaming, planning to wear this for my open house on Christmas Eve - hope I can get someone to take an on-person photo!

PS. What I’ve been watching and liking - in case you need some down time, The Bear, Hijack, Slow Horses, I Know This Much is True…