it cannot fail to please

So here it is, Boxing Day, and I’ve been ill in bed since Christmas Eve.  How on earth did that happen?  I’ve only got a few days off work, and I have loads to do, but instead I’m lying in bed, coughing and spluttering, and generally feeling rubbish.  How is it possible to feel so exhausted? Boo.

Since I don’t have the strength to get out of bed, I’ve had a lot of free computer time, and I realised that I hadn’t yet posted my finished ‘It Cannot Fail to Please’.

I actually finished this back in September, so I’m clearly a bit behind with my blogging.  I was determined to wear it at the IKnit Weekender, because really, if you can’t wear a handknit to a knitting festival, then where can you?  The knitting was done, and the pieces were all washed and blocked, but the seaming wasn’t finished.  Not to worry, the journey to the venue would take a while, so I figured I could seam the sleeves on the way.   It was actually a great bus trip and surprisingly fortuitious; the driver got lost because the route was on diversion, so we did a few laps of the City and took a very round-about route.  We finally started heading the right way when my fellow travellers on the top deck shouted down directions to the driver!  It was good fun, and I had loads of time to finish.  I wonder if anyone thought it was odd that I quickly got changed en route?

In aid of getting photos, I tried out the self-timer on my camera.  Nice idea, but a bit tricky without a tripod of any description.  No matter where I positioned myself and the camera, I couldn’t get a decent shot.  Unfortunately I haven’t been successful in bribing a friend to take a photo either, so I’ve cobbled together a couple of self-portraits to give you the general idea.  (Obviously these were taken before winter set in).

Here ’tis:

Pattern: It Cannot Fail to Please, from A Stitch in Time by Jane Waller and Susan Crawford.

Finished: 12 September 2009

Yarn: Rowan 4 ply Soft, colour Expresso.  7 skeins.

Modifications: This was a bit of re-knitting involved to get the size just right, but it all worked out in the end.  I added another pattern repeat to the length, as it would have barely covered my belly otherwise.  I didn’t like the sleeves as they were; something about long, wide sleeves just looks dowdy on me instead of cute and vintage-y.  I took a deep breath, frogged, and re-knit the sleeves with one less repeat in the width and one less repeat in the length.

Errata: I don’t think the errata have been published, so I’ll signpost them here.  Because the original pattern is included in the book, it’s easy to double check the mistakes.  Errors are on the following:  Front/Back: Row 20.  (Rows 21-23 are also numbered wrong, but the pattern is correct).  Armhole shaping: Row 3.  Sleeves: the stitch counts only work for the smallest size.  Errors in rows 1, 3, and 34.

This project may have taken me forever to do, but I love the result in the end!