At Whit's End

I've finished the Whitfield Jacket. You may be surprised to learn, however, that even after yesterday's disaster, I still had a few tricks up my sleeve. Or actually, in my pockets.

Or, more accurately, on the side of my pockets. Last night I got all the buttons sewed on and the plan for this dreary drizzly day was to knit up both the pockets and attach them. (The pattern also calls for two flapped upper pockets, but I decided I didn't want them). Knitting up the pockets didn't take long, but then it came to joining them to the sweater. I got totally engrossed in an Independent Lens documentary that I'd DVR-ed on my PBS station, and, and as I watched and sewed, somehow managed to sew on both of the pockets to work with left hands. That's right -- they both opened on the same side. The picture above shows this creative bit of garment construction.

The pockets are mostly for hand-warming, I think. The openings are on the outside. The fix I decided upon consisted of finding the sewing thread on the seam of the mistakenly closed off side, snipping it (I know, right?), and then unraveling it back to the corners, weaving in those ends, and finally closing up the right side. You can imagine my tension in wondering if I was going to snip the right thread. This time, it worked.

This picture shows things a little better, and up close. It was so dim out today that I couldn't get a shot that didn't require a flash without really jacking up the ISO level -- hence the graininess. Overall, I'm pleased. It's quite warm -- too warm for November in central Texas -- but I have high hopes. I think the buttons were definitely the right choice. I'm still very happy with the stitch pattern and the yarn -- although I kind of wish now that I'd gone with a yarn that was a bit more variegated. Although this yarn claims to be heathered, its about the least heathery heathered yarn I've ever worked with.

I really like the set-in sleeves. I keep telling myself not to knit drop-sleeve patterns anymore. But then I'll see some stitch or color pattern that appeals and off I go into the land of baggy armpits. I need to look at this one and how wonderfully it fits though the arms and shoulders the next time I'm tempted.

I'm so glad this is done! I'd really hit a point of inertia a few weeks ago and I'm glad I took the time this weekend to complete it. This leaves me only with some socks still on the needles, along with that piano bench cushion cover that I can't ever seem to get back to. Time to get on Ravelry and start trolling for ideas...