It's a done deal

Lookin' good, huh!  It's bright without being gaudy or loud.  The Cascade 200 Paints pulls it all together.
It's no longer a UFO, but a wearable art textile, a lovely hand-knit sweater which I will wear with joy.

Adding the variegated yarn helped with the 'interest' factor,
I think.  Touches of it on the sleeve to pull it
all together.

I made some changes in the pattern.  

Moved the buttons from shoulder to center right.

Added the attached (knitted on) I-cord around the neck so the neckline would appear more 'finished' and be connected to the rest of the sweater.  Check Nancy Wiseman's The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques.  If you are limited in what you can spend to add to a knitting library, make sure you include this one.  Essential techniques for beginning and ending knitted garments.  Good pictures, too.

I-cord requires DPN's and a fair bit of patience, but
it's worth it for finishing either a neckline or a front
edge, especially if there are no buttons.

I added the Cascade 220 Paints to coordinate with the Cascade 200 Superwash blue.  Paints in the lower ribbing, the yoke, and an accent on the lower sleeve.

In this case I prefer more ribbing to less -- makes for a
fit that is more precise.  This sweater didn't even
approach the 'classical sloppy' look but rather
seemed to be designed for a fitted look.  (IMHO, of course.)

So I will spend this afternoon and evening weaving in ends.  Since the yarn is washable, I will likely throw it all in the laundry (in a large mesh lingerie bag) and then in a low-temp dryer.  How convenient is that.

There are no, underline no, seams.  How wonderful is that.  Knit from the yoke down, this sweater is all done when it's done.  Sleeves are done on DPN's from the yoke with picked up stitches under the arm so there isn't even a tiny seam there!  

But still, all those pesky tails.  

On the special gift front:  I have several folks who are lovers of the garage sale experience.  These friends have been on the lookout for knitting books.  The books arrive by mail or hand delivery (from friends close, geographically.)  

I have books from the 60's and 70's (yes, we did wear some of those awful clothes and colors!)  And today I received two books from 1942.  Every design is classic -- cardigans, car coats, skirts, jackets, even an argyle cardigan.

Reckon I'll make a trip to my LYS -- there are at least three designs that deserve to be knitted in the 21st century.

Embellishing the Hat

Remember when I said the hat was a done deal?  Well . . . it wasn't, not exactly.

Lots of finishing 'chores' to do --

• Weave in all the loose ends on the back side
• Finish a top-knot thingy for the crown of the cap
• Add reverse crochet to the edge of the hat

The top-knot thingy is made of I-cord.  Check YouTube for instructions here.  I decided to make several bits of cord and then loop them in and out of one another as I attached each cord to the top of the hat.  And of course I had to use all three colors that appear in the stripes.

Three different cords, using either one or two colors per cord.

The I-cords look like this.  The solid pink one is already attached to the hat.  The other two have loose threads at each end which I will weave from front right side of the hat to the back to attach the cords to the cap.  (Of course, this process also adds to the number of loose ends that must be woven into the backside to anchor and hide all the threads.)  At the same time I will interlace the cords so the top-knot thingy is interesting and unique.

I-Cord, using DPN and 3 stitches.  Check Nancie Wiseman's
book of Finishing Techniques.  Great book.

I didn't like the bottom edge of the cap.  Just the edge of pink ribbing and it seemed boring.  So I got out Nancie's book and looked up "reverse crochet."  It's a weird stitch because you work it around the edge sort of behind yourself.  Check it out on YouTube where someone will have all the details.  Here's a link to Reverse Single Crochet.

Needs to be steamed a bit but I like the look.

I can now say, truthfully, that the hat really is a done deal.  I have the pile of orts to show for it.  Nancie's book is indispensable, with clear pictures.  Each technique has a list of pros and cons which can help you decide if that technique will work for your item.  Exceptional book, perhaps one of the very best I've ever added to my resource shelf.

My scissors, darning needle, and pile of thread ends
after completing all the weaving in.

The scissors in the pocket are in the cover photo.
My scissors, from Germany, are almost buried in the
pile of thread ends.

Sure am glad this one's finally really over.  It's cure and colorful, but that last bit of work -- weaving in and embellishing -- is just plain tedious.  Nancie even suggests a glass of wine to help the chore seem less a chore.  You gotta do this part or you'll never have a finished item.  But it's my least favorite part of the process.  I think most knitters will agree.

This bit of tedium is right up there with scrubbing grout in the shower -- nothing much fun about it except for the anticipation of a finished, hand-knit item and/or a very clean shower.  Good things come to those who can outlast the tedium.