Helena for Catherine.

Big Ted models Catherine's Helena Cardigan

Here’s my completed Helena, from Knitty.

It’s beautifully modelled by Big Ted, who refused to take off his Ewok outfit for the picture.

I’m sure that baby Catherine won’t mind that you can see where I made the switch on the sleeves from working back and forth on one circular needle to working in the round on dpns.

I must confess that I’m still not a big fan of working in the round. Perhaps its because I come from a dressmaking background, but I do feel as though shoulder seams particularly give a structural integrity to a garment. This is especially important in larger knitted items as they can be heavy, and all the weight of a big jumper is carried by the shoulders. Then again, my preference is for raglan sleeves which don’t have proper shoulder seams whether you knit them in the round or not.

Now I just need to decide what to knit next. I have a jumper a scarf and a lacy tank top all half-finished, and yet I’d much rather be designing a pattern for a pink and black stripy pirate jumper… possibly with this gorgeous “deathflake” motif across the front.