Coraline has begun

I've swatched for the Coraline cardigan before, but couldn't get gauge, and with this pattern you need to get row gauge as well as stitch gauge. Moreover, the pattern calls for DK weight yarn which, for reasons that remain mysterious to me, is more expensive than other yarn weights. Consequently I haven't been doing much experimenting. But. Recently I found this lovely purple yarn - Queensland Collection Rustic Wool DK - and I think it is perfect.

Coraline is knit from the bottom up with a folden hem. I have made a folded hem before on my first and second versions of the Hourglass Sweater (sorry for the Ravelry links, this was pre-blog!) but Ysolda's design is a little bit different.

The basic idea of a folded hem is that you cast on provisionally, knit a bunch of rows, knit a bunch more rows, fold it in half, then take off your waste yarn and knit the provisional stitches together with your live stitches. Then just keep knitting.

With the hourglass sweater, there was a purl row which I think the pattern referred to as a "turning row" between the front rows and the back rows (if that makes sense). This clearly defined the fold. On Coraline there is no turning row, and also the pattern says to slip the first THREE stitches of every row. I've never seen such a thing before. Of course I forgot to do this on my first 15 rows and did not want to rip it all out because these are some long damn rows. I'm sure it will be fine. (Just as I'm sure those are famous last words.)

Here's a picture of the back - I've gone just a few rows beyond where the hem is attached. See how neat it looks where the hem attaches?

Now that I've finished the hem, I have to knit 95 rows in plain stockinette. Easy peasy. This means that I have to either a) find a good show to watch, b) find some good podcasts to listen to, or c) finally figure out how to read and knit at the same time, from the comfort of the papasan chair where I have been recently living.

Tonight I am watching Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, a desire inspired by recently reading this book. I wonder how many rows I will get done?