So Monday I tried Becky’s method for the neckband on Kate and it was terrible. First I agonised over how many stitches to cast on. The front piece had 34 stitches to be picked up, the back had 26. The pattern calls for 40 stitches of neckband to be matched to those 34 stitches of front 34 stitches of neck band to 26 stitches of back with 16 stitches of neckband for each shoulder. I just could not figure out whether I should I cast only the 16 stitches called for in the pattern for the shoulder and thus end up with a neckband 14 stitches smaller than the pattern, or should I cast on some more - giving bigger shoulder straps and the right size neckband? I cast on a few more at the shoulder than the pattern called for, but less than enough to give a full sized neckband. I used the button loop cast on, which was excruciating to do, every stitch needed to be oh so carefully straightened and tightened and shaped just so, the yarn just didn’t want to slide though once the loop that was round my thumb was moved to the needle. I knit about half the neck band using two 5mm circs as I didn’t have a short enough circular for the job. My knitting was suddenly loose and sloppy and there were clearly too many stitches on the shoulder.

So yesterday I ripped it out. New approach. I knit the neckband separately from the top down (as called for in the pattern, but with only enough stitches to have 16 per shoulder and exactly the right number to graft the live stitches of the front and back pieces to the band. I also went down to a 4.5mm needle. I didn’t have a short enough 4.5mm either, so I tried the magic loop technique for the first time - which worked just fine, though my neckband was a bit big to magic loop easily on an 80cm circ, so I had to be very careful about how I managed my loops….

When the band was done I cast off the shoulders as called for in the pattern and I have grafted the back piece to the neckband. So far so good. Tonight I will graft on the front and (hopefully) do the side seams.

Yesterday was a particularly productive day, not only did I spend four hours knitting/finishing as described above (how DID it come to take FOUR hours to knit one neckband and graft 26 stitches?) I also waded though a whole bunch of “first day back to normal life” jobs and bought myself a convertible bra so that I can actually wear this thing, when it’s done. Assuming it fits. Which may be a big assumption. I have fears I may need to chop the bottom off and add a few inches to the middle.

And for those of you who are more interested in Isabelle than my knitting (you know who you are) I just have to tell you that she is in developmental overdrive right now. Not only has she started drawing recognisable shapes, learned to pedal her bike, improved her swimming (she started DIVING, I kid you not) but she has also figured out how to make tunnels with blocks over her train tracks. I built the big “houses” in the foreground but all those little ones grouped tightly together she built herself, unassisted. Wow.