May Seamed
As September begins to wind down (where did another month go?) I'm also getting close to the finish line with May. Handy it is to have a husband who can watch the baby a little bit over the weekend, otherwise, I never would have gotten May's seams in place. Finally she is beginning to look like an actual sweater instead of a jumble of parts.
I'm not dreadfully fond of seaming together pieces that are mostly composed of reverse stockinette. To help make it a little easier, I did a one stitch selvedge on each edge of each piece (except for the front opening edges) in regular stockinette. I'm more or less happy with the results. Nothing looks too wonky and the sweater has the fit I expected it to have, although this is still a little difficult to tell without the collar. I've learned from more than one experience not to judge a sweater before all the finishing is done -- the addition of those finishing touches often adds necessary structure to the final garment.
Now I just have the shawl collar to go (it's knit separately and attached later) and the I-cord ties. The collar is garter stitch, so it should go fairly quickly. Seaming it and getting it to lay right will likely be another adventure, but when I tried attaching it as I went, I didn't like the way it looked, and figured maybe seaming the collar to the sweater was the right approach after all.
Rippedoffknitter asked why, since it is a raglan, didn't I just knit it all in one piece. The answer: because I was too lazy to re-jigger the pattern in order to do that. It seems like almost every Rowan pattern has you knit all the pieces individually and then seam them together. At least every pattern I've tried. Given that this is a light weight little bolero-style sweater, those seams probably don't add that much strength to the garment so the conversion probably wouldn't have hurt it at all.
Thanks to everyone who left comments about dealing with vaccinations. Every time I post about something like this and get to hear other people's suggestions and stories it makes me feel better -- or at least more prepared. Z got some Tylenol before her doctor's visit and I nursed her for a little while right before she had her shots to make her feel a little better before she got them. Z was a very brave baby and dealt with it better than I thought she would. There was some crying (and I got a little misty eyed, too), but it was probably harder on me that it was on her. We came home and she spent most of the time sleeping. It seems like the most major side effect for her from her 4 shots was just being a little drowsy. She was back to her very awake self the next day. So, all in all, not the worst possible thing. TracyKM asked in the comments if I could talk a little more about vaccines from an immunologist's perspective. I'll try to do that sometime in the near future, in case it would be helpful for anyone else out there -- and I'll try to explain why some of the side effects occur.
Now, are you sure you didn't nurse her for a little while before to make YOU feel a little stronger ;0) My baby os 20 now, and I can still remember being unable to hold him for his first vaccinations - the nurse thought I was being reallysilly, but I didn't care. Glad you both got through it ;0)
I am glad Z (and you) came though her shots easily.
I can't even stay in the room while mine gets her shots. Daddy is big and strong and can handle it. Mommy breaks down in tears. :)
I'll never forget the nasty look my older daughter gave the doctor after her first shot. Back then (she's about to turn 5!) it was just one shot. Baby #3 got 2 shots at 2/4/7 months. I can't imagine having to give 4 at once! Oh the heartbreak. Even though I've been through it, it still seems like a big assault on their little bodies.
And while you're talking immunities, what about Nestle's new formula that is making some huge claim about giving immunities like breast milk? Oy!
When I read the title today, I thought at first it said "May Steamed". LOL. I don't recall the weather in May....
Aww... I'm glad the vaccinations went without side effects. Here in Finland they've changed the vaccination program during the past couple of years so that children get fewer vaccinations but instead the shots are combinations. My son is going to be a year old in a month, and I think he'll be celebrating by getting another coctail shot... ;)
I'm glad baby--and mom--made it through all right. At least you didn't have to go through a circumcision. My husband's Jewish, so our boys are circumcised. I'm not a crier, but when the doctor pulled out the enormous needle he was going to stick my first newborn baby with, I burst into tears and cried through the entire procedure. (The only other time I've cried in the past ten years was immediately after the birth of my second child, so you can imagine how upset I was.)
If it's any consolation, I don't remember being vaccinated as a baby. The only ones I do remember are the 'flu shots I have every year, and that's only because I sometimes react to that year's strain and I can't knit! :(
Happy to hear that the vaccinations went well!
Regarding my question about the raglan construction, I guess I was wondering if you during knitting discovered any obvious reasons to why the designer had made it a seam-up raglan. I find that knitting things flat and seaming them up is a very British/American thing, as opposite to the Norwegian knitting I grew up with, where as much as possible is knitted in the round.
Always interesting to learn about new constructions, and May looks lovely!