Swatchy

Well, we have one sleeve, finished and attached. This picture shows the shoulder detail nicely as well. I may have a new sweater next weekend.

Not without issues. I got most of the way done, and panicked that the every fourth row increase was not making the sleeve grow fast enough to set into the armhole. I think that the wrist started smaller than normal, as there is no ribbing, and I wanted it to be a neat fit, and not sloppy. So, I switched to every third row and that seemed to work out. I think wrist sizing is perfect.

I also had some issues with figuring out how long the sleeve ought to be. The steek edges sort of stuck out, making a measurement tricky. I ended up sewing it together, and finding that it was bulky around the armhole. A bit of tugging and folding the wrist back led me to the conclusion that the sleeve was too long by about five rows. So I ripped, and tried again. I was pleased.

I used a different method to attached the sleeves than my normal mattress stitch. I counted the stitches I ended up with on the sleeve and picked up that number evenly around the arm hole. Then I did a two needle bind off with the picked up stitches and the live sleeve stitches. This is not original; I've seen it specified on knitting patterns before, I just have never done it that way. I considered k2tog with the sleeve and picked up stitches, then knitting a facing. I discarded that because I think it would be too bulky. This yarn is light worsted; not skinny shetland spindrift. The result was very nice, and easy. It is equivalent to picking up stitches to knit from the body out. I knit from the cuff in this time so the big motifs would match.

I had a blinding flash of the obvious regarding stabilizing the cut stitches. I usually crochet them because I don't have a sewing machine I trust, and I don't trust my knitting to stay put. I just realized that the process of picking up for the arms, as well as for the bands also serves that function. Now, with that, can I consider cutting with out crocheting next time?

Naaaaa....