Meris - Body Done

These Furlough Fridays are certainly giving me a lot more knitting time.  Even with checking on Fred regularly I was able to finish up the body of my Meris cardigan.  I really the like finishing touches of this pattern.  After finishing the body, you do an I-cord bind off, which creates such a beautiful finished edge.  Then you pick up stitches for the buttonhole band without breaking the yarn and knit that.  After binding off the buttonhole band you pick up stitches around the neckband and leave a tail and break the yarn.  It was at this point that this lovely dance missed a step.  I didn't break the yarn, I just made a loop.  Then you pick up the stitches for the button band and knit that.   After binding off the button band you use that tail you left with the neck band stitches and pick up 6 more stitches across the top of the button band, but to do the I-cord bind off on the neck band you have to start from the button hole side of the band - the opposite side of where your working yarn is.  I didn't want to break my yarn, so I purled back to the other side and then did the I-cord bind off.

Alternatively, you could break the yarn after knitting the button hole band, knit the button band and then pick up the neck band stitches.  The other benefit of doing that is you wouldn't have a needle holding the neck stitches getting in your way while you're knitting the button band.

While I was working all of this finish work, Fred came downstairs - I had left his door open as he had shown that he was consistently using his litter box.  He looked around the room a little, then got up on the daybed - using a pile of knitting magazines as a step - gave himself a thorough bath and settled down for a kitty nap.  He's doing much better.  We're still shutting him up in his room at night and during the day while we're at work.  He's still a little wobbly and we have a pretty big house that is not really kitty proof, I don't want him getting stuck somewhere.

Pattern:  Meris by Elizabeth Doherty
Yarn:  Finch by Quince & Co in Crocus
Needle:  US 2.5 (3 mm)