Thank you to everyone who chimed in with advice on this post regarding the Tinder Cardigan I am knitting for Emma.  It really helps to get good advice and I so appreciate the dialogue I have with readers of this blog.  The title of this post may lead some to the false conclusion that the pattern, Tinder by Jared Flood, is in some way problematic. Not so.  I call it a “saga” merely because of my own ridiculous but funny conversations with Emma which slowed down the beginning of the project, my own rush to finish it before heading to Tucson, which paradoxically led to slowing down the middle of the project, and my indecisions over seams and buttons, which slowed down the end of the project.

Here is an update.  I ripped out the seams in the sleeves:

Are you surprised?  I imagine that most of you would have predicted this.  Why knit a garment and not do it right the first time (or the second, or the third, or the fourth…..)?

I have yet to sew the seams back up, as I am trying to finish up a wee bit of Christmas knitting first, but I did knit the button band, which turned out so pretty.  It really looks great! (Note that you can see a more accurate representation of the lovely green shade – Bird Book in Shelter – in the last photo of this post.)

And I did go out and buy another set of buttons:

I am not convinced these buttons are right either (I think the shade is too light) but my local John Lewis seems to be button-challenged lately and I haven’t had time to seek out an alternate source.  However, I do think these are the proper sized buttons for this cardigan (1″ as opposed to 3/4″).  In the photo below, the metal buttons I originally bought are on the right, the new buttons are in the middle, and on the left are the new buttons turned upside down (the backs are a nice mottled brown).

This leads me to yet another potential problem.  I knit the button band the requisite 1 1/4″ as shown in the pattern. Now that I am now going to go with 1″ buttons,  I am worried that the button band is too narrow. I am thinking of ripping out the bind-off on the button band and putting in an extra two rows of ribbing (maybe 4). Two steps forward, one step back.

In any case, I will be taking the garment as is to Vancouver and will finish it there by hook or by crook!

I will end this post with a photo of the absolutely gorgeous little ribbon I found for sewing over the seams on the back of the button bands.  I think it is a perfect match, though perhaps a bit cutesy. We will just have to leave it up to Emma as to whether she wants a more sophisticated finish.

My next post will be from Vancouver! It will likely contain new knitting content.  Happy holidays!