Zip Neck Saddle Shoulder Yarn Patons Canadiana Yarn in Lime Juice Having wrangled the front of the Zip Neck Sweater into shape, I have embarked upon the journey up the sleeves. Since I was already miffed with the sweater over the whole “and at the same time” thing, I decided not to take any chances with the sleeves. I am knitting two sleeves at once. For those who haven’t tried this and are mystified, it’s actually quite straightforward. Get a long straight needle – or circular to knit back and forth on, if that’s your pleasure – and two balls of yarn. Cast on for one sleeve, drop the first ball. Cast on for the second sleeve from the second ball. Just remember to change from Ball 1 to Ball 2 as you knit across the needle and you’ll be golden. You will have to occasionally untangle your crossed lines, but it’s a small price to pay for not having to knit sleeves one at a time. My rationale for handling sleeves this way, though, has less to do with Second Sleeve Syndrome and more to do with the thought that I can make the same mistakes on both at the same time. That way, at least they’ll be symmetrical! The sleeves are knit entirely in the moss rib pattern, from the wrist up. Since you must increase at each edge every so often, it’s a little tricky to keep track of whether you’re knitting or purling at the beginning of any given row. You can check on the back side of the fabric to make sure everything looks right. But I also heartily recommend putting a stitch marker in before the start of the pattern repeat at each end of the row. Every four increases, you’ll have a new ‘repeat’ of the pattern, so you can keep moving the stitch marker closer to the edge as you need to. It saves having to work out where you are in the pattern every time you start a row. The increases are done soon enough, since this is just a little boy’s sweater. Even working the two sleeves at the same time, this seems to be whizzing along. Next week I hope to bring you happy tales of shoulder decreases, collar work and smooth seaming. FEATURED YARNS
