Good To The Last Inch

Finished my sweater last night. It was a teeny bit nerve-wracking. When I cast off the second sleeve, the ball left was pretty small, and I wasn't sure it would be enough for the collar. I saved all the scraps I cut off when I wove the ends in, and sewed the sleeves on with a different beige worsted I had a little ball of in my stash.

Picked up the collar stitches and started knitting, watching the ball get smaller and smaller, thinking maybe if I run out, I can just make the collar a bit shorter, hoping I wouldn't have to unpick the sleeves and shorten them by a few rows to salvage enough yarn to finish the collar.

And I didn't, but it was a close call. About a dozen stitches from the end of the bind-off, I was running out, but I spliced in one longer scrap I had, and I made it. Just. Had to tighten the bind-off stitches a little, but the collar rolls and any unevenness won't show. If someone's close enough to the collar to see that splice and tightening while the sweater's on me - chances are they're not interested in the sweater.

So there you have it. I'm pretty thrilled that it all worked out AND I managed to finish in November, considering how late I started. I have one teeny-tiny pile of ends left, above, and a sweater (still needs a wee blocking, but it fits and I'm happy).

Next up: fingerless mitts to incorporate someone's first handspun yarn. There's only a few yards (the length at bottom right) and very thick-and-thin, so I'm thinking I will do some trim at the cuff with it, and the rest in my handspun. Last week I spun some fleece I had that looked to be a decent colour and texture to match it, in a bit more of a 'rustic' yarn than I usually do, so that will get swatched up and started today.