Update 7-10-08:
I’ve finished and grafted the waist band, and I’m nearly 2 repeats into the upper body section. I’m quite proud of my kitchener graft, and it’s the longest one I’ve ever done. I decided not to do the 3-needle bind off so there wouldn’t be that bumpy valley it creates.

I stopped today to secure the loose ends thus far, not only so that I won’t be overwhelmed by the amount of finishing when I get to the end, but so that I won’t feel like I’m wrestling Cthulu every time I pick it up to work on it.

When I wove the ends in, I tied a small knot as close to the surface of the knitting as possible, then sewed through the knot with strong black polyester sewing thread (I swear, you could suture a knife wound with this stuff.) It made for a tough little knot on the back of the work but no one will ever see it, and I can rest easy knowing the bamboo won’t slip on itself and wiggle out.

Update 7-7-08:
SWTC responded to my complaint email by sending me a new ball of yarn in the mail. It took them a week to get it right, and I was told by email that my replacement yarn had shipped out on the prior day -- then I had to bring it to their attention that I had not yet supplied them with my address.

When the yarn finally arrived, it had FIVE splice knots in it, and resulted in 6 separate sections of yarn, as you can see here.

I really like the texture of the yarn, so I’m using it anyway, but I’m going to have a massive amount of ends to weave in. I’m just about finished with the waistband of this pattern and I already have about 16 loose ends.

SWTC, prepare for a webvendetta.

I hate this yarn so much. It feels nice, but every ball is a struggle to wrangle from store put-up to workable skein, and the 3 skeins I have balled up so far have each had at least 4 or 5 splice knots in them. SWTC SUCKS.

08-25-08:
All finished, washed and blocked and it’s awesome. The fit is perfect, and the yarn is so nice. Such a shame there were so many problems with it in the beginning.