When I began working the sleeves of my Wave Cardigan I decided to add a single sideseam stitch, which I always worked in the first color of the band. This helps disguise the typical jog that appears at color changes when working in the round, and disguises the waves that do not line up once I began decreasing to narrow the sleeves as I worked toward the cuff. I liked the ease of tying the tails at color changes in the body and decided to do the same on the sleeves even though they would not be steeked.
After I finished the sleeves I went back and trimmed the knotted tails to just over 1/4”. I was a bit concerned that I might feel that knot but after trying it on with a long sleeve t-shirt I discovered that I didn’t feel anything there, not even a slight thickness. I’ll be doing this on other sweaters in the future.
My high school home-ec teacher taught us that the finishing work on a garment is important and that the insides should be as lovely as the public side. One of my favorite finishing techniques is to use a bit of ribbon or trim to cover the raw cut stitches of the steek. This is purely decorative, but adds a slight bit of security if those raw stitches ever want to unravel sideways (which is a pretty rare event with good sticky wool like J&S jumper weight.) When I began working on the sleeves I started shopping for just the right trim. First I looked for trim with waves on it and nothing I saw was quite right. I thought they might conflict with the knitted waves. Then I spied a collection of shells that I picked up while hiking in Shetland which inspired me to shop for ribbon with drawings of shells. Perfect!
I dipped into a tin of buttons that I keep near my sewing machine and found several options. I had just enough (8) of simple brown and cream shank buttons. A bit of blue cotton embroidery floss holds the buttons in place.
All in all, I’m very pleased with how my Wave Cardigan turned out. Small details and easy modifications make me feel like I’ve created a custom garment.
