Finished Duster and Some Roadblocks

On Monday I said I would report on the Tilted Duster buttons (as well as a hilariously unsuccessful sewing attempt). Obviously, that did not happen and I know you are on the edge of your seat. As if.

Here is the collar as it stood (heh) last week. It was big and rather overwhelming, so I ended up taking about an inch or a little more out (which really means I ripped it to about an inch below the first buttonhole, since they needed to be repositioned). I'm much, much happier with the way it looks.

Unfortunately, this is the only sort-of-nice picture I have of the duster with buttons, you will just have to trust me when I say it looks really nice. I was a little worried because the ribbing was very puffy before washing, but I suspected a good soaking would tame the stitches. Luckily, I'm not always wrong and it behaved just as I thought. The fit is a bit larger than I would like, but not nearly enough to feel like it's a problem. Overall, I'm very pleased with how the sweater came out, and I think I will get a lot of use out of it.

Roadblocks:
Sewing has a bit of a learning curve. Whenever I sit down at that machine, I start out with a tangled, knotty mess. I've managed to get through it, but I don't know how. Knowing how I'm getting past the knotty mess would go a long way towards avoiding the problem in the first place. Frustrating.

Frost and Flowers has been problematic as well. I got to a point that I just couldn't make the stitches work out. I checked and re-checked (several times) and I have enough stitches, but I just couldn't get it to work out. Finally I remembered. I have a first edition of Gathering of Lace and it is riddled with errors (insert swearing here), and when I checked the online errata, sure enough, the line I am on has a missing decrease (which I was expecting, but I wasn't sure of the placement). Now if I can just remember to take those pages home, I'll be all set.

But wait! There's more! In April, I started a version of the Equinox Pullover from Interweave Knits. I decided I would prefer a cardigan and that the whole thing should be knitted in the round and steeked (cut apart, for you non-knitters). So I casted on, knitted away, then put it aside when warm weather hit. I picked it up again a few days ago and it seems I've learned a few things about stranded knitting in the intervening months. The Dale of Norway baby sweater was a huge learning experience (funny for such a wee little sweater). Here's the problem: I casted on and have been knitting seven steek stitches (the stitch that gets cut, plus some extra just-in-case-it-unravels stitches). I don't remember why I have seven, but now I'm concerned that it's too many. I knitted facings for the Dale sweater which cover the raw edges, with such a large number of stitches to cover the facings will be very wide. Also, I'm concerned that the button plackets will need to cover much too wide of a space. The bottom and cuff ribbing are just three rows, the plackets would need to be at least double and that could easily offend my sense of balance. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Feline Roadblocks:
Judy hates Fred.

Now that she has decided to rejoin the posse, she's around to beat up on the wee little bugger. Judy is three times the size of Fred, but Fred has been able to defend herself very well. I'm more concerned with Judy's emotional well being, she is so unhappy. We're thinking about checking with our vet to see if anti-anxiety drugs would be helpful, since therapy isn't an option.

Plus, I haven't being feeling all that well for the last few days. It finally hit me that the symptoms I'm experiencing are exactly my allergy symptoms: sore throat, oogy stomach, run down. Fred seems to have pushed me over the edge of what my allergy medication can handle. {sigh}