I thought I'd be able to post a picture of a finished sweater today but the suggested tubular bind off of stitches around the neckline ribbing took way longer than a traditional bind off would. It is done using a regular needle (which you should be able to see in the picture) to wind around and through stitches before dropping them off and it seemed slightly different from the sewn bind off I did on the grey socks but with the same effect - a slightly stretchy finished edge. I worked on it through three tv shows last night! I found I had to have the instructions right next to me to keep track of where I was in the sequence, couldn't seem to keep track otherwise. By the way, picking up stitches with those markers spaced along the neckline really did make that process easier.
So now I'm ready for the final stage: sewing the sleeve caps to the sweater armholes followed by sewing up the long seaming of the sides and sleeves. I am resisting this part, realizing I'm feeling a lot like I do when I get to the binding on a quilt. Actually setting in sleeves when I made my own clothes found me similarly resistive. Definitely not my favorite part. I did a quick check of sizing after the binding off was done, slipping my head through the neckline opening and holding the sides together with my fingers. It will get a blocking after all the seaming is done but it looks like the fit will be just fine.
