Casting on March 31 -- barely squeaking under the line for Malabrigo March! (And can you believe it? This is my first time knitting with Malabrigo…)

July 11: Finished the fronts and did the shoulder seams yesterday, so I could finally try this baby on for size. It fits! I did decide that I would be frustrated by the rolling hem, so I picked up just above the garter stitches, all the way around, and I’m working a folded hem. I’m using a crochet hook to graft/bind off the live stitches, attaching them to the small flap of garter on the inside. (This would have been easier to do from the start, rather than as an afterthought, but whatever.)

Also, just wanted to note that I’ve been keeping a row tally for the fronts/back, with at least three columns: row # for the back, row # for the left front (including the short rows), and row # for the right front. I then track rows for bust/waist shaping with an asterisk, and armhole shaping rows with a circle. It alleviates the need for a whole batch of row counters, and lets me pick up wherever I left off. Lots to keep track of with this sweater!

March 14, 2011 -- a year later, I’m just getting back to this. It’s been hibernating for a while… I wasn’t happy with the laddering I was getting on the sleeves. The work is at such a loose gauge that any time I switched needles (to work on 2 circs, for example) I got a ladder. Eventually I got my hands on a 12” circular needle, which seems to be the answer, so I ripped out the sleeves this weekend and started again. In the process, I decided to work them completely top-down, rather than starting mid-sleeve with the provisional cast-on. So far, so good.

April 2011: I worked a folded hem on the sleeves to match the folded hem I added to the bottom of the cardi. I like the squishiness of folded hems…