I did it! I totally steeked that bad boy. Check it out:

Okay, since most of you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, steeking is a Norwegian technique for constructing sweaters. Basically you knit the whole body as a tube with no armholes, then you physically cut the tube to put the sleeves in. Sounds traumatic, right? Exactly. (Incidentally, that article I linked has pictures of this exact sweater I’m knitting. Do any other knitters think that Wendy‘s floats are too long there? She doesn’t look like she’s tacked the long ones down at ALL. All of my books say that you should definitely twist if carrying a float of more than five stitches. I’m just annoyed because her wrong side looks a lot neater than mine, and the dark green floats don’t show through the white nearly as much.)

Anyway, yeah, so the first picture is me using the sewing machine to secure the steeks, which I’d outlined in bright yellow yarn so my lines would stay straight. I went around twice as the pattern suggests… and then chickened out and went around a third time. Then I was satisfied that those ends wouldn’t be going anywhere. Next is me preparing to make the first cut. TRAUMA! I had to go have a beer afterwards. Third is the cut and completed arm hole. And in the last shot, I’ve sewn the shoulder seams and now I’m ready to insert the sleeves and finish up the collar. Shouldn’t take me too much longer, which is a good thing… because the baby it’s intended for (Ruth Lauren Cunningham, daughter of my dear college friend Nat) was born last week!