Done, done, done

It's amazing how the arrival of new yarn is a spur to finishing with the old yarn.

The Anne Cardigan (aka "The Cardigan from Hell") was very nearly finished when the Kauni yarn arrived. It's at just this point in the proceedings (ie so very nearly finished you can almost touch the line) that I tend to start with displacement activities. I'll maybe read about the best way of blocking various fibres (good article here, if you want to know, or there is always the ever-reliable Knitty); or knit a quick little bag; or decide to sort out my knitting books; or go stash diving in preparation for the next big thing. No need for any of that this time. I simply left the Kauni yarn on the table where I could see it and the last little bit of "Anne" fairly flew off the needles.

Here is the loathsome thing, finally finished:




I blocked it by wetting a cloth (handkerchief of 'im indoors), placing it carefully over the knitting and holding a hottish (technical term) iron on the cloth. I didn't press the knitting; I didn't move the iron around; I just placed it over the cloth with almost no pressure. This allows the steam to permeate the fabric and even out the stitches.

Although twelve buttons came in the kit, the recipient decided she would rather have just one button a the top. The buttons provided were, in my opinion, just too small for this. I made an executive decision - I bought another button:



I think it's quite a good match.

It's now in the box, ready to be sent off and may I never, ever, have the misfortune to knit another pattern by this "designer". The yarn is beautiful, though.

This left me with a clear run at the Kauni jumper. (It's this one here, if you remember.)

I did a swatch (bet you never thought you'd read that here); I did a few calculations and I'm off.

Of course, I'm not actually following the pattern as written. If you think I'm doing stranded fair isle work on the private side of the work, then you must be a new reader. I'm using Wendy's Fearless Fair Isle pattern (sort of) but really, I'm just winging it.

I found a very neat trick to stop the corrugated rib flipping up (as it is wont to do). That seems to be working well:



The cast on is slightly wobbly (technical term) but I think that's a function of the stitch pattern and not a fault on the part of the knitter.

Here's the private side (because, as you know, the private side should be just as tidy as the public side):



I'm just about to move on to the body - first the diagonal stripes and then the scroll-y bit (technical term).

It really is a case of "just one more row".