The day is finally here, the day Cardi B is off the needles. The ends are woven in and the whole thing is ready for a quick bath to get all the schmutz off that manage to find their way onto large projects. You know what I’m talking about: leaves, hair, crumbs, and maybe a little bit of dust! What?? Your home is dust free? Please come over and assist with mine.

This morning I undid the bind-off on my button bands and used a stretchy bind-off. I initially just did a pass-over bind-off “loosely” which made the whole thing pucker and look bad. Happy I went through the extra effort. As you can see, I had enough yarn to finish the project! In retrospect, I could have added a couple more rounds to the sleeves making them “long” as opposed to “bracelet” length. Knowing me, I will wear them pushed up, so the length is irrelevant.

Now is the fun part of making my notes make sense for a pattern. It will be available in the large/X-large size I made, grading this would be a nightmare. I have a couple of unconventional finishing techniques I employed, partially because I didn’t know if I would have enough. I did like how I handled bringing up the back, no wrap and turns.

Other information: Queensland Collection: Rustic Tweed. DID NOT blend balls. Some spots are different colors, I am unrepentant in my choices regarding this decision. Button holes on both bands so my button placement matches. This sweater is currently unblocked, I’ll get there. I decided not to add pockets; I love pockets, I didn’t feel they would be usefully placed based on the final length of the sweater.

Thank you everyone for following the development of my Cardi B, it has been a MONTH of updates about her. There will only be one or two more posts about THIS specific sweater, the buttons I use and then when the pattern is published (it will be a free pattern since it will only be one size). You have all been so encouraging during this process! It was very helpful in getting it finished. This brings me to 84 balls of stash yarn used in 2020. Once I finish a huge WIP from 2019, I should be at or near 100. Totally within my GRASP!!

I cast-on the first for a gift pair of Unassuming Hats today. Lucky for me, I’ve knit it 4 times already, so the 5th and 6th shouldn’t yield any new surprises. I am using the waste-yarn tubular cast on, which is pretty easy to accomplish!