I was so excited to be finished with my light gray Ribby Cardi that I forgot to include a few notes for posterity. So, here is a final wrap up:

– This is the Ribby Cardi pattern from Chicknits, using Cottonease yarn in the color Stone. I got an orange two-way separating zipper from Zipperstop.com, the orange twill and charm are from Glamscience’s Etsy shop.

– I used a size #5 needle to cast on, bind off and do the i-cord, and a #4 needle to do all the knitting.

– I did a 2×2 tubular cast on and bind off at the hem, cuffs and collar, cheating here and there to match up with the transitions into and out of 3×1 ribbing. (I hope to find the time soon to do a few 2×2 tubular tutorials with instructions on how I manage to cheat in an extra stitch to match a pattern.)

– I used right and left slanting Make One increases for the sleeves. I did an attached i-cord (link to a video) along the center fronts to cover the zipper and make a sturdy, tidy edge.

– I knit the body in one piece, and the sleeves in the round, the only seaming was to join the sleeves to the body.

– I left the collar stitches live and knit up from there. I dropped the neckline down two rows in both the front and the back in an effort to make the collar a little wider.

– At the back of the neck I managed to match up some 3×1 ribbing by picking up an extra stitch on one side, it looks tidier than had I done 2×2 ribbing all the way around:

– The front of the collar matches up with the ribbing somewhat, which was a nice surprise:

– The only place I needed to reinforce was at the top of the shoulders where the armhole seams meet up with the collar. The stitches around here were pulling. I solved this by continuing the seaming up over the top of the shoulder and down the other side, matching the knitting and tightening the stitches as I went along. It was a lot of fiddly work, but well worth it:

– The tall collar is working really well. The collar will loose about an inch when the sweater is worn and stretches downward a bit so I’m glad I went nearly up to my earlobes. Where the body turns into the collar there is a little bump in the knitting where it pooches out. It doesn’t bother me, but it’s not a perfect transition. Taking the time to wrap the edges of the zipper in twill and using it to create a zipper stop at the top was worth the time and effort as the zipper doesn’t feel scratchy against the skin at my neck.

– The sleeves hit just at my knuckles and they are perfect, cozy but don’t get in the way. If the cuffs stretchout, though, they will get in the way (as is the case with my first Ribby Cardi).

– The yarn is already looking ratty, as much as I like Cottonease I won’t be using it for sweaters again. It doesn’t wear well, and it’s not something you can fix by taking a sweater shaver to it. That said, I love this sweater and plan to wear it until it looks too horrible to wear outside of the house.

– The sweater feels great, it fits and without seams it’s very easy to move in. The two-way separating zipper is an absolute must for a project like this, it makes it far more comfortable and flattering. Next time I make a similar sweater I’m going to use Bonne Marie’s instructions on joining the sleeves to the body of a bottom-up raglan to be (mostly) seamless.

– I learned a LOT while being fastidious making this sweater, not the least of which is that good finishing skills are all that much more important in a non-wool sweater since you cannot rely as much on blocking to smooth out things that are too tight/short/uneven.

Here are all the entries for this project:

• math and casting on
• still on the first ball of yarn
• beginning shaping
• progress report
• second sleeve
• second sleeve 2
• beginning the collar
• notes on tubular bind off for 2×2 rib
• where I’m glad I bought too much yarn to start with
• back to where I was
• nearly there, no really
• overly detailed finishing
• the end, sort of
• deconstructionist tendancies and a new obsession
• Finished. Yes, really.
• The End. (you are here)