“BP” and the Three Needle Bind-off (part two)

'BP' preview: click for larger image I’m now at the very last stages of “BP”. So here’s a little preview of it, since I can’t put up any proper in progress pictures, just in case. I’ve done the edging for the sleeves, the button I was waiting for has arrived – and yay, it’s perfect. All that’s left is the weaving in, sewing up, and then the main edging, which I’m now quite happy about tackling. Having done the sleeve edging, I know that going up a needle size for the different yarn is the way to go. See, these things all work out in the end!
Anyway, I did make a decision on the three-needle bind off, and it was actually largely from necessity. BP was knit on 3.5mm needles, and I realised that, oh, I only have the one set of those. Not even a circular or DPN extra. So I had to use a size up for the third needle, and I think it came out very well. Hoorah! It was a bit fiddly to start with, getting the stitch back through both loops, but once I got the hang of it, it wasn’t so bad at all. Must remember to take a picture of how the seam came out.

Blogathon 07?

I’m thinking of doing the Blogathon again this year. On this blog, with a knitting sort of theme – I dare say I’ll knit as I go, and post pictures or something like that.
Since I’ll have my stash back from my Mum’s house by then, maybe I could do some stash-busting thing. A blanket in 6×6 squares? I’ve always meant to get around to one of those, and it would be lots of little things that would give me plenty of variety – different stitch patterns as well as yarn for each one, and so on.
As for a charity, I reckon I’ll go for the Manic Depression Fellowship. I’m hardly the only bipolar blogger around, so maybe a few others will do the same. That would be nice.

Whew!

Alright, I think I’ve got this blog looking pretty much the way I want it for now. Yaaaaaaaaay! Mainly, I’ve been working on the right-hand sidebar. PhpCurrently (which was insecure) has been replaced with Lirae‘s RightNow. I highly recommend that – very simple to install, set-up, and use, and does exactly what I want! *g* There are also a few other interesting scripts on the same site.
Further down I’ve also added widgets from LibraryThing and BookMooch. Boooooooooooks! :-)
Finally, I thought it was about time I double-checked all the webrings were still active, and updated those, and also my BlogChalk and Globe of Blogs listing. Now I’m just going to go through my Blogroll to prune out any dead links there, and I’m done. Hoorah!
(Having said that, however, I do intend to upgrade to MT 3.35 soon. I really should get on that, shouldn’t I?)

The Three-needle bind off

I should be going to bed. Instead, I’m contemplating the three needle bind off. Or cast off. I can’t even remember which is the British term and which is the American any more. The internet homogenises us all! Anyway.
The main project that I’m working on at the moment – we shall call it “BP” for “birthday present” – calls for me to do two lots of three-needle binding off, which I’m now ready to do. In fact, I need to do it, or I can’t go any further. All the main knitting is done, there’s just the finishing and then picking up to do edging. Plus sewing on the button, which hasn’t arrived yet (eep). I’ve never actually done a 3-needle bind off before, so I’ve been wondering a few things about it. Might it be better to use a size smaller needle as the binding off one? Or a size larger, even? Although smaller makes more sense to me, since you’d usually bind off normally then sew a seam with a large sewing needle. Maybe it depends on whether you want a tight seam or a more flexible one? Hrrrm.
I think I’ll sleep on it.