Putting It All Together - Part I

I feel like I'm on the home stretch now!  Over the long weekend I attached the pockets, knit the bands and attached them.  So my checklist now looks like this:

1. knit the back  ✅
2. knit the two front pieces  ✅
3. knit the 2 pockets   ✅
4. place the 2 pockets  ✅
5. knit the 2 sleeves   ✅
6. join shoulder seams and attach sleeves  ✅
7. knit and attach cuff bands  ✅
8. knit and attach back/front bands  ✅
9. wash and dry garment (not necessary for acrylic at this stage)  ❌
10. zipper placement
11. knit the hood   ✅
12. attach the hood to jacket neckline
13. knit the drawstring
14. complete drawstring casing
15. complete finishing, darn in ends.

I borrowed a tool from my "sewing kit" and instead of pinning the pockets in place, I basted a lime green guideline that I could follow as I crocheted the pockets in place.  Here's what that looked like:

This helped tremendously in making sure that I stayed in the right columns and rows of stitches to ensure that the pocket was straight.  Here's what my attached pockets look like:

Next I attached the sleeves:

The first picture is hanging the closed edge of the arm opening evenly over the number of stitches open on the top of the sleeve.  Wrong side is facing as the chain cast off shows on the right side.  The bottom picture is of both sleeves attached.  It's starting to look like a sweater!

The next step was to knit and attach the cuff bands for the sleeves and bottom bands for the front and back pieces.  I decided that I would continue the theme of having the chain cast off show on the right side of the fabric for the bands as well. I also decided to make the bands a little longer than called for in the pattern, which you will probably notice if you compare pictures.  

I know that you can't really see very well from this picture with all the loose threads making it look more like a hot mess.  I spent last evening getting rid of all the waste yarn and tidying things up a bit, but the light wasn't very good by the time I'd finished so a better picture will have to wait until next time.

So next up are the zipper bands and placement, the hood and drawstring, and the remainder of the finishing work.  As always, questions and comments welcome!

Nancy