Machine knitting: sweater knitalong complete!

Yeah, I'm retro-posting. Hello from the future, ding-dongs!

This post is part of a series, as I play catch-up on KnitFactoryImpl's knitalong of a set in sleeve crew neck sweater for channel members.

In the previous installment, I wrote about failing to get a good neckline for this sweater.

Well, I decided to try sewing it up as-is, rescuing dropped stitches as I went. After my hand-warmer adventures, I was a little more confident about how to sew up a ribbed edge.

The process was slightly harrowing, but resulted in dropping only one stitch! What! Incredible!

So, of course, at this point I put in a box because I was afraid to finish it. I had intended this to be a gift for producer Amy upon her return from Berlin in early December. When she came home, we had other stuff going on, I got distracted, and I definitely wasn't constantly thinking about this unfinished sweater every day.

Just finish the sweater, Marty!

No! Well, okay! I mean: sort of!

What I did do was finish seaming the neck and shoulders before Amy left in mid-December to visit family. I packed it with a length of yarn and a tapestry needle, as well as links to the videos on how to finish the sweater.

I gifted producer Amy a sew-it-yourself sweater kit. 😅

In truth, this was actually her idea. Several times she brought it up and I declined, insisting I would finish it, but eventually I relented.

So, the rest of this story is hers!

Okay, uh, finish the sweater, Amy!

She did! After watching Carson's video, and finding another video explainer or two on mattress stitching, this was Amy's on-the-road project for December.

She got it finished on December 24th and popped it in the wash.

On Christmas morning, she found Santa had delivered a perfectly decent sweater! A bit short in the sleeves, and there's that dropped stitch in the back of the collar, but it's recognizably a sweater! And, according to producer Amy, it is quite cozy and I have seen her wear it several times. Amazing!

Thanks for reading

While I'm still somewhat embarrassed that I didn't finish the sewing-up on the sweater, I am really proud of how it turned out. I'm grateful that Amy graciously took it on as a DIY project. I certainly learned a lot, and Amy learned some new techniques, and we have finished a successful collab together.

And it looks like a thing!

This feels like a pretty great project to have accomplished at the end of 2025. A year that has been panned by critics, and most everyone, alike.

Until next time!