Margaret is nearly finished! All that's left is turning her from a jumper to a cardigan (snip, snip!), then some prettying up. I'll document the steeking (cutting) process, but I wanted to show a few detail peeks first.
The photo above shows the raglan 'seam', which I designed to be a simple cable. I made purl decreases on either side of the cable, which sends it diagonally up to the neck line. I think it is a really nice detail and very strong too. I was inspired by one of Asplund's sweaters. ( Go check his sweater set for some incredible knitting!)
One detail I almost always include in hand knits is to use the tubular cast on. It makes a very pretty, finished edge to cuffs, hems, etc. (see above.) Its also really strong and stretchy so it helps the sweater edges last forever. This is the perfect tutorial for tubular cast on by Ysolda. It takes a little bit more time than regular cast on, but it is so worth it. Lovely.
Above is a peek of the collar, a bit wonky before blocking calms down the wool. Since the collar goes on last, it needs a tubular bind off. There are lots of tutorials out there, but I couldn't find one showing the way I like to do it... maybe I'll make a tutorial?
Also you can see a funny square shape notched out of the collar front. This is another detail I like to use on steeked cardigans. There is a similar notch missing on the ribbing at the bottom hem front, too. This happens because I work both the ribbed hem and the ribbed collar back and forth, so I can avoid knitting across the steeking stitches. When I do cut the steek stitches right down the middle, each long half will fold to the wrong side to be facings. I don't like the ribbed hem and collar to have facings (too bulky and visible) so I leave them out by knitting them back and forth. When I knit on the button band, I just knit up the side of the ribbing, and no one is the wiser.
I do like adding all these little special details, but mostly I'm excited to wear it! With a pretty dress, black tights, a side braid, picking apples in an apple orchard. Oh, Fall. Oh, knitting.
