One Down

Dear Ann,

It’s 3:15. One sleeve is joined to the body of my Whitby.

I know that seems like slow progress. But I had to work my way into the mood for mattress stitching row ends to stitches. A do-over was required when I realized that I was stretching the sleeve top by taking too many stitches in those tight 8-stitch cables. There was more doing-over when the yarn broke. Breaking the yarn is always a hazard with mattress stitch, which has to be pulled tightly through the stitches. This risk is enhanced by the nature of the denim yarn. After washing, the stitches shrink, making it hard to pull the yarn taut. A little too much muscle, and it pops, and you have to pull out enough stitching to give you an end to weave in. Ah well.

I also had to take a break to make myself some eggs and watch a bunch of Jimmy Fallon YouTubes. (Highly recommended: #hashtags with Justin Timberlake, thanks to you for showing me that one, and the lip-synching contest with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Stephen Merchant. So damn funny.) (I saved time by not linking to the videos. I have a sweater to sew up, people.)

I had to break out the headlamp for this close work. Over the years, I have found many ways to embarrass my kids. Answering the door with my with a blazing light on my head is right up at the top of the list.

Now I can verify that my measuring and estimating for sleeve length worked out okay.

Onward.

Love,
Kay