The home stretch

This is the hardest place for me on a project.  I love beginning, problem-solving, nurturing, feeding, and coaxing into existence, but I really don’t like the finishing.  I dream it, make it happen, then, really?, I have to finish it?

I like doing the various parts of finishing–mattress stitch is so wonderful, fitting the sleeve into the armhole can be satisfying, working in ends means that the end is near–but I hate that feeling of having as many things on the to do list to get it finished as I had at any point earlier in the project.  And I always underestimate how long any of it will really take.

I had to make myself pick up the Santa Fe cardigan Monday night to work on sewing in the sleeves when I had a swatch to do that was much more appealing.  I spent about three hours on Sunday putting trims on the fronts, and then doing neck trim, which I finished Sunday evening.  I needed to block the trims and I decided how I would fasten the fronts together, so bought additional hooks.  Today after blocking the trims I sat down to put the hooks onto the fronts, sew the other sleeve in, and finish the ends.  I got the sleeve in, ends finished, and hooks sewn on and then had a crisis about the eyes.  I didn’t like how they were working and looking, so I walked away.  Had lunch, rethought the placement of the hooks and eyes, but didn’t like my solution any more than what I had originally tried.  I thought I would work on something else instead.

 

But I remembered how I have been observing Wendy and how she doesn’t let up on projects and how much she get done!  So I decided to take another look.  At least I could make some notes on what needed to be done.  Of course I couldn’t resist fiddling around, and eventually decided to make my own loops instead of using the clunky metal ones, which really worked nicely.  And now I’m done.  One more blocking and my cardigan is done.  Well, I really need to finish writing the neck instructions before it is really done.