Rolling Along

I was listening to an Iditarod Podcast interview with Ken Anderson (currently running 12th).  In it he talked about being flexible.  That if one has only one set race plan then things will not go as planned.  Predictions for weather and trail are often wrong as the weather changes so vastly depending on where one is on the trail; going over the mountains, in the Burn, the interior, down or up the Yukon and on the coast.  He feels that the best runs are dependent not only on the dogs but also on the flexibility of the musher.

When I started the Amber Waves sweater I really wanted to change it to seamless but was put off by the charts which seemed to change with each section and size.  I am an intrepid modifier but for this pattern conceded to go with seams even though I did change the background ribbing to stockinette.  Seams are not my forté which is one of the reasons I prefer round knitting.  However at Knit Knite Ruth, who is an expert at knitting seams, said we might be able to work something out. wink wink.  Those words allowed me to go ahead with confidence.

Yesterday I blocked the left & right fronts and the back.  By mid afternoon they were dry and ready for seaming.  uh oh.  I wouldn't see Ruth until Wednesday night and then would need to leave the pieces with her until at least the weekend.  uh oh.  That would really knock me out of the top 10 and my progress was so good that I did not want to slow down.

After a break taken by going to JoAnn's to look for buttons (which, by the way, is not the wonderful mecca for buttons it was even 3 years ago) I got out Designing Knitwear by Deborah Newton. This book has been in my library for years, originally purchased at a NYS Sheep & Wool Fiber Festival.  I pull it out occasionally as it is chock full of information for designing but last night realized it is also full of details for putting garments together.  duh.  She talks about how many people seam from the inside but she does it from the outside.  Well that made sense to me so I studied her explanation of mattress stitch.  No biggie now.  Got over that mountain with ease and am ready to start the sleeves.

As of 5:31 AK time the standings were: