The News, Good and Bad

Dear Cynthia,

What fun patterns you posted on our site! I'm so thankful for the nice response they seem to be getting, too! Also, a thank you to the commenters regarding my work on the Hardangervidda. It's gratifying to hear approval from others who know a little something about knitting (and from those who don't, too). And Elizabeth, you cracked me up -- not sure I'll get dh to wear it inside out to show off the sleeve facings.... I think I'll feel lucky if he doesn't think it's too itchy, which is the response I got from my six year old when I completed his Fana cardigan...

Well, I haven't posted in a week, and I wish I had more progress to show for it. I've been busy getting gifts ready for various people over the past week, mostly my gingerbread cookies, which I package up and give to the man who delivers our milk, various friends, and yesterday, our mailman....or so I thought it would be our mailman. I put some cookies into a cute little holiday bag, put them in the mailbox, put the flag up, and then waited in the house to make sure that our regular mailman would be the one who picked them up. Well, the man who delivered our mail yesterday was somebody else, though he did smile as he pulled the cookies out of the mailbox, probably thinking something about how great it was that he was subbing for our regular guy on this particular day..... Anyway, this afternoon I will watch and wait to see if our regular mailman delivers our mail, and if it is, I'll make a mad dash out to the street to hand deliver a package of cookies to him.....

So, the good news is that finishing Hardangervidda by Christmas is completely within reach at this point. The bad news is that the zipper which I ordered has been discontinued, and though there are several people who have scrambled to try to find and ship a suitable alternative from Dale of Norway, the soonest it will arrive is December 26th -- ironically, the day AFTER Christmas. Hmmm...what to do..... I'm still considering options, and if any readers have suggestions, I'd love to hear them.....

Both sleeves are on, so that leaves the neckline, which started out looking like the above photo. The front opening is cut in the region which is three black stitches wide. At the base of that region, there is a buttonhole, so the bottom of the placket has a finished edge which is just simply three bound off stitches. Then the sides of the placket are machine reinforced with two lines of stitches on each side of the placket. Then, the placket is *gasp* cut, but this was much less stressful than the cutting on the sleeves, because it is much more obvious exactly where the cut is to be made on the placket.

That done, stitches are picked up around the collar edge, and block ribbing is worked for a couple of inches, followed by a purl turning ridge, then stockinette to form the lining of the neckline. Phew. Okay, still with me? Then, stitches are picked up along one side of the placket, including up the side of the neck edge to the turning ridge, and a few rows are worked, then another turning ridge, then a facing, etc. I'm to the point now in which I have to knit one remaining side of the placket, then sew down all of the facings. It is a mess of curling edges and yarn tails right now, but in this photo, I've tried to pin it in place a little bit to give an idea of what it will look like when it is finished.

The very last steps are to sew in the zipper, then to sew down the inside facing of the neckline. I'll try to get much better photos tomorrow, after most of the hemming is done and I can work on achieving a better lighting arrangement.

As for now, it's time to watch for the mailman...

Warm regards,
Laura (YarnThrower)