Seaming is not my favourite part of knitting, but when I do it I try hard to do it well, consulting my books and weighing up what kind of seaming method is best for each seam. (The best book for this in my collection is The Knitter Companion by Interweave.)

I also spread it out over a couple of days, because it tends to make my back hurt. This was the first time I’ve tried spit splicing extra yarn onto the ends so they were long enough to do a whole seam. It means less ends to sew in – always a good thing!

The pieces for this have sat in a pile for a few weeks now. I decided that the best way to get Alex finished was to take advantage of my current scarf weaving obsession – by putting the loom aside and the pieces of knitting in its place, and telling myself I wasn’t allowed to warp the loom again until the seaming was done. A couple of days later I have this:

Pattern: Alex by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Possum Merino by Millspun Yarns
Buttons: The Button Lady at Camberwell Market
Alterations: None, though I knit the fronts and sleeves two-at-a-time
Comments: There are schematics for the fronts, back and sleeves, but they are missing key measurements. And there is no schematic for the collar, and I really wished there was one as it was the a rather unintuitive piece to knit, and it feels as if it’s too ‘short’ when you finish it.
Conclusion: I’m happy with it, but not head over heels as I was with Sylvi. The collar takes a bit of fiddling and tugging before it sits right, and the edge tends to curl under. I can’t help remembering now that double breasted jackets don’t seem to suit me – I look at these photos and immediately I think it would look better with one row of buttons and a central band. The yarn has knit up well, though perhaps a bit too cuddly and fuzzy for a jacket, but it sure is going to be very warm.