Seam Hell

Seaming a cardi takes forever - at least when I do it. I started at 6:30 p.m., stopped at 10:00 p.m., and I've still got one sleeve and two side seams to go. The shoulders are the most painstaking. Purists maintain they must be sewn, but I get much better results when I use a crochet hook and slip stitch. I know it's shocking that I would admit such a thing on the Internet - but there you have it.



I get the best results when I pin the pieces to the blocking board Nancy gave me. It's nice because I can hold it in my lap while I sew. Thanks again, Nancy. I really love that thing.

Today marks the first day since I pulled the Oakley Shawl out of the UFO pile that I haven't knit at least two rows on it. I more than made up for that while the red Rowan Summer Tweed cardi was blocking yesterday. There are now 169 stitches on the needle. The directions say to cast off when there are 175. I've used up 3 balls of yarn and part of a 4th. The shawl is approaching the finished size given in the pattern. That means I'll have at least 2 balls of yarn for the fringe. Is that excessive? Should I make the shawl a little larger than the pattern directs? I'm not sure how to proceed, but I probably won't do anything until the RST cardi is finished. Must. Get. Out. of. Seam. Hell.