Thrace Cardigan

I finished my third Camp Loopy project about a week ago, and have worn it several times already.  It's the perfect lightweight summer cardigan, to throw on for just a bit of coverage with lots of lacy holes to let the breezes through.

When last we spoke of this, I mentioned that I was going to make the cropped version of the cardigan.  I bought the yardage for the 47" size, intending to make it a smidge smaller, since that is an inch over my size.  I knitted happily away on it and realized early on that I really wouldn't need the full 6 skeins to knit it.  I double- and triple-checked the pattern for the yardage and reassured myself that she did tell me to get a yardage that equates to 6 skeins of the Ultra Pima, to make the cropped version of the cardi.  It became quickly apparent that if I were to knit the cropped version (with my smidgen of adjustment) it would only take 3 skeins!!  Since I had so much yarn and lots of time left to complete this project before the end of August, I decided I might as well knit the longer version and use up the rest of the yarn.  Having done so, I still only used 4 of the 6 skeins, so I really don't know what the designer was thinking in recommending so much yardage.


This cardi was really quick and fun and easy (a wonderful combination.)  You begin on the back, by knitting a rectangular lace panel.  After a couple of repeats, I had the pattern memorized, which meant that I basically didn't need to refer to the pattern at all for the rest of the cardigan, save for points where I pick up stitches or bind off a certain number, etc.  You pick up stitches for the back from that panel, and cast on a bunch for the front, then knit the lace until you get to the side seam, where you do a three-needle bind off and then proceed to knit the sleeve in the round.  After doing both sides, you pick up stitches to knit the bottom half of the body down toward the hem.  I didn't actually worry about the measurement there, but just knit it to the length I thought was right for me.  Then you pick up stitches again for the ribbed button band.  But no buttons, so no buttonholes!  So easy.

It took me just over two weeks to knit the whole thing, and I enjoyed it a lot.  I am actually considering ordering another 3 skeins in a different colour, to make the cropped one that I wanted in the first place.

Let's Recap: Anthro 101

I'm sure it's no surprise to hear that I'm waaay behind in showing things off on this blog.  Even I was surprised to see how long this one has been waiting, however.  It's over a year since I was finishing up this cardigan and wanted to show it off.  How time flies.

I won't go into great detail, here.  That old post gives all the deets on the cardi: where the inspiration came from, the yarns I used, etc.  I ended up scrapping the crocheted belt, in the end.  I just didn't feel like it did the cardigan justice.  Other than that, I think I did a pretty good job of replicating the original Anthropologie cardigan.  There are some great textures in this one, between all of the different yarns, as well as some great colours.

Another triumph for Elizabeth Zimmermann's set-in sleeve and another cute cardi for me.

Ombre Cardigan

Part of the reason that I posted so little throughout January was because I was participating in the Tanis Fiber Arts January knitalong. I ended up being pretty monogamous with it, since I chose such an ambitious project. Toward the end of the month, I was starting to worry I might not finish it before the deadline, but fortunately I had the 31st off from work, so I had time to knit the last of it, weave in ends, and block it, just in time.


Tanis' Ombre cardigan is lovely and featherlight. Being made from two strands of laceweight yarn means the fabric is barely there. Being made from Tanis' Pink Label laceweight means it is also soft and warm and beautiful. The hardest part might have been choosing which of her two colourways to use.

I ended up going with two shades of grey: Shadow and Stormy. Turns out that the Stormy is actually teal as much as it is grey, which of course works for me, since varying shades of teal are mainstays of my wardrobe. The two yarns work well together and have a lot of contrast, which was of course my intention.


The first thing I did when I started knitting the cardi was to widen the seed stitch button band - in the original pattern it is only six stitches wide, which I thought would be a bit too narrow for my cardi. I decided to widen it a bit, in proportion with the increased bust measurement, and ended up doing ten stitches instead of six. The knitting was simple and meditative until I joined at the underarm and realized that the armholes were about 6 inches too big. I ripped it back and rethought the math and ended up with a better size. Once I'd made one modification, well... I decided to do a bit of shaping in the body and made four darts beneath the bust to give it some definition. Then I did some increases beneath the waist for my hips. Finally, I did a few more increases before the ribbing at the hem, since I like ribbing that isn't all stretched out.

The sleeves were easy after that, and then with a quick blocking and some perfect buttons, I have a lovely light cardi. Now I'm just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit so I can start wearing it more.

On the Needles

Although time may pass by without me posting, it is usually because I am working on so many projects that I don't take the time to blog. In January, I was pretty monogamous with my TFA knitalong project, the Ombre cardigan (pics soon) but once I finished that, I was anxious to get back to everything I'd put on hold while I worked on it.


First of all, I've been slowly plugging away on this alpaca cardigan for a long time - I've knit a plain brown stockingette body, and finally got to the more exciting bit, at the sleeves. The stranded work turned out pretty well, and I'm sure it will tidy up more with a good blocking. One more sleeve to go and I can knit the matching yoke and finish this up. Doesn't the colour combination make you think of Neapolitan ice cream?


Also in the pink vein (it must've been Valentine's Day) I have started a complicated pair of socks (i.e. my usual) with a lovely soft pink from Tanis Fiber Arts. Well, I started and restarted (and restarted) them, really. It took a few tries to get the fit right. I also finally got a better sense of the pattern by the third try, so now I can knit it without painstakingly following the chart, stitch by stitch. This is still the first sock, so I have a way to go with this pair.


Then there's a hat - not much to see yet, but just look at that fantastic yarn from Madelinetosh. So perfect and round and soft... and what a colourway! It looks so grey in some lighting, and so blue in other lighting. As my eyes also shift a bit from blue to grey, I think it will be a good hat for me. Because I need another hat.


Lastly, not really on the needles, but soon to be on the loom, another scarf. Because I also need another scarf. As you can see, it's going to be all rainbows, offset by navy (because one can't always go with black.) You can't really tell from the warp how complex and awesome the finished scarf will be, but it's going to be pretty cool, once I actually get to it.

Also, I just realized that I also have another cardi and a blanket that I didn't take photos of... so you'll have to imagine those, for now.

In the meantime, photos of finished projects coming!

B&B Cardigan

I suppose I've made you wait long enough for photos of my Black & Boysenberry cardigan, and since I finally managed to throw together a few half-decent photos, today is the day.

I'm sure I've laid out the details before, but in case you don't remember, I used EZ's percentage system to knit the cardigan entirely in the round on circulars, with a steek in the front that I cut to add the buttonbands at the end.


The sleeves were also knit in the round, two at a time, and then attached at the underarms so that I could continue knitting the whole thing in the round. I used a set-in sleeve shaping and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I think I had knit the shoulder width a bit small, according to my knitting gauge, but it blocked out pretty wide when it was wet, so it actually turned out just about perfect.

I also did v-neck shaping with a steek, which made the work-in-progress look pretty weird, but after cutting, the shape is just right. I am really happy with the depth and angle of the v-neck - it really pays to measure and get out the calculator and a pencil. With an eraser.

The sleeves lengthened a bit more than I anticipated, with blocking, as well, but they are still a comfortable length. I fold the cuff back once if I want to keep them out of trouble, but otherwise, they are cozily down around my hands, keeping me warm.


As you can see, I couldn't pick just one type of button at the fabric store. It's not entirely my fault - the store didn't have eight buttons of either of the styles I wanted. It was my mom who suggested that I get four different types of buttons and mix them up, two of each. I agreed that it was just enough to give the otherwise simple cardigan a bit of personality.

The only thing I don't love is the corner where the buttonband turns to the v-neck. It is a bit floppy - I guess I did too many increases there, since I was guesstimating how many I would need. I could try to reblock them flatter, but I'm not sure it would work, anyway, since they were pretty flat while blocking the first time. Having the top button a bit higher would probably help with that, too. Live and learn.

I'm super happy with this one - it is just the size I wanted, comfortable and warm. I've been dreaming of a wide-stripe v-neck since forever, it seems. (At least since then.) I finally have one.

Almost a Cardigan

I put a lot of time into the striped cardigan this week, and it's paid off. I attached the sleeves to the body on Monday, and this morning finished the shaping and got ready to cut the steek. As you can see, it ended up looking a bit weird, since I did decreases for a v-neck on either side of the steek, on the upper half. That way I could keep knitting in the round and do all the shaping at once. The set-in sleeves worked really well and look good, although you can't really tell in the photo, since they are all squished together by the neckline shaping. I loved having a chance to customize where the seams sit, even if it meant doing a bit of math last night when I was planning it.

This afternoon I sat down at the sewing machine to stabilize the sides of the steek, so none of you have to worry about my sweater unravelling. Then I carefully cut it apart along the dotted line, and picked up a million stitches for the collar and buttonband. I should have the knitting done by tomorrow (dare I say tonight?) and then lay it out to block for a day or so.

The scariest thing about knitting with steeks isn't even the cutting; it's not being able to try the sweater on to see how it fits. You have to rely on your gauge swatch, your skills with a measuring tape, and knitting math. I'm not gonna lie -- I tried it on right after I cut the steek, since I was pretty nervous about it, and I'm really excited about the fit. Hopefully it will look even better with buttonbands and a good blocking.

Getting Somewhere

The problem with having so many projects on the go at once is that progress moves slowly, overall. I've been plugging away at several of them, but only really getting anywhere on one or two, this week.


I decided to pick up the socks and do some more work, since socks are fairly quick to finish, and I would be able to get one project off the roster. (Let's not point out, just now, how I always start knitting a new pair, having completed the old one.) As you can see, I have one completed sock toe, which means one completed sock. The linen stitch suits this yarn, I think, and the star toe is not my usual, but I like it, too. The second sock is moving along, as well, but this week, I have started putting more time into the stockingette cardigan.


I cast on some sleeves on Tuesday (two-at-a-time, to make sure they're matchy) and have been going around and around since then. Having stripes helps me to keep going, since I get that "just finish this stripe" feeling while I'm knitting. Then I get the "maybe one more stripe" feeling, after that. I am really loving this cardigan, and can't wait to see the finished project.

Girlie Friday

Well, it might have taken me forever to knit this cardigan, but it's finished now, and it's super snuggly and comfortable, and well worth the effort.

A pretty simple (and free) pattern from Knitty, it wouldn't have taken me long to finish this, if I weren't so easily distracted by every impulse to start a new project. I was admittedly a bit intimidated by the idea of altering the pattern to knit the yoke all in one piece, with set-in sleeves, but once I got going on it, it was easy enough. I even added a few decreases to the fronts & back, to make the width from shoulder to shoulder a bit narrower.

I wet blocked it after everything was seamed and tried it on and was worried that I might need to reblock it a bit wider for it to fit the way I wanted. I decided to knit an extra inch of ribbing on the collar and buttonbands, just to give a little more width. Then I got a bit bored with 1x1 ribbing, and let it languish a while longer before finally picking it up and getting it over with.


I was planning to wet block it again after finishing the collar and buttonband, to tidy things up, but once I had it off the needles and tried it on, I wasn't convinced it needed it. I took a steam iron to it to make it lie better, but that's all.

I have to say that I am really happy with this cardi: the colour, the texture, the fit, the warmth. Between the ample collar and the long ribbed cuffs, it is plenty cozy and I really think that all of you should print off the pattern and knit your own. You will thank me, later.

Chicken, Cheesecake, Octopus

I have definitely gotten back into my cooking groove, lately. It may have been sparked by the great Thanksgiving meal my HLM and I made last week (with not only pumpkin pie, but also accompanied by my favourite delicious banana bread.) My groove was certainly helped along with some excellent garlic-marinated barbequed pork chops with some homemade porcini mushroom sauce, a few nights ago. Sorry, no photos -- that food is all long gone, now.


Autumn appears to be in full swing, here, so tonight I decided I wanted some comfort food to warm myself up. I saw a recipe somewhere today for a chicken pot pie with leeks and mushrooms, and decided that I didn't really need a recipe to make it, so I came home and improvised this one. It didn't take that long, and I think it's going to be something I revisit again and again this winter.

I did wuss out and use a frozen pie crust. Don't judge me -- I made one from scratch for the pumpkin pie last week, I promise.


It looks a bit messier on the plate, but it still tasted pretty great. Just a hint of thyme and sage really fill out the flavours. Yum.

Then, last week I got a craving for cheesecake, so I pulled out a recipe for Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, taken from Junior's Deli in NYC. I have wanted to go there and eat their cheesecake ever since I learned of them in Tom Robbins' Still Life With Woodpecker:

Who knows how to make love stay?

1. Tell love you are going to Junior's Deli on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn to pick up a cheesecake, and if love stays, it can have half. It will stay.
2. Tell love you want a momento of it and obtain a lock of its hair. Burn the hair in a dime-store incense burner with yin/yang symbols on three sides. Face southwest. Talk fast over the burning hair in a convincingly exotic language. Remove the ashes of the burnt hair and use them to paint a mustache on your face. Find love. Tell it you are someone new. It will stay.
3. Wake love up in the middle of the night. Tell it the world is on fire. Dash to the bedroom window and pee out of it. Casually return to bed and assure love that everything is going to be all right. Fall asleep. Love will be there in the morning.

But I digress. The main difference with a Junior's cheesecake is the crust -- you will find no graham wafers, here (and good riddance!) Junior's makes a very thin sponge cake for the crust, and then loads a bunch of delicious fluffy cheesecake on top. I have to admit that I was skeptical at every stage of this cheesecake. I wasn't sure that the crust turned out right, and then I wasn't sure that the cheesecake batter baked properly, and basically I just made it and crossed my fingers and stored it in the fridge overnight. The next day I cut myself a slice, and as the knife went through, I could tell it was going to be fluffy and perfect. I wish you could taste it. I am definitely a convert to the Junior's way of doing things.


Lastly, in knitting news, I have made an octopus. Okay, not quite -- only five arms, I know. I have finished knitting the main part of Girlie Friday, and have sewn the sleeve seams already (and tried it on, I will admit. I didn't want to take it off; the sleeves alone were so warm and cozy.) Tonight I will sew the side seams and then wet block it. Tomorrow I will pick up the stitches for the collar/front bands and see how that goes. On the home stretch!

Impulse Cardigan

While knitting on my new little sock at the cafe, last week, I was struck by a sudden urge to knit a cardigan. Once I got home, I went through my favourites on Ravelry for inspiration, and was reminded of how much I love the Girl Friday cardigan from Knitty -- so casual, so comfy. I must have one.

I went through my Cascade 220 stash and decided to make it with this crazy lime green I have six skeins of. I wound some up and got ready to make a swatch, but upon closer inspection of the pattern, I realized that I would be one skein short. I did have seven skeins of rose pink set aside for another cardigan; when I looked at that pattern, I realized that I need eight skeins for that one, so the pink became my default for Girl Friday. I am really happy with the choice, although maybe it will be a bit of a Girlie Friday, instead. The pattern looks super squishy right now, but it will block out much flatter, and hopefully will look really cool.

By now, I have knit far past that photo: I am done the back up to the arm holes, and just past the ribbing on the fronts. I am planning to join the back, fronts, & sleeves all together above the armpit and knit it in one piece from there on, thus saving myself the effort of sewing the sleeves into the body, later. Call me lazy, but I think it's clever.

One (more) warm cozy cardigan, here I come.

Poppy Sweater

After the initial frustration of seaming, the neckbands and buttonbands on my sweater went very smoothly. I picked up the perfect number of stitches without really even trying, and they lay flat and tidy. I spaced out nine buttons for the cardigan front -- the pattern called for eight, but I figure I'm tall and also I was afraid of gaping at the buttonband, so I added an extra one. The buttons are so perfect; I really should have taken a closer photo of them to show off how perfectly they match, but I guess you can tell by how much they don't stand out in these photos.


This pattern, if I didn't mention it before, is from one of the recent Interweave Knits magazines. It was called the Marigold sweater, but Marigold isn't a colour that works for me, plus I wanted to be able to wear it to work (with colour limitations for dress code) so I chose red. I got this yarn with some gift certificates from my coworkers for my birthday -- thanks guys! It is wool, which might seem crazy with all the hot weather at this time of year, but like so many others, I am plagued with air conditioning at work, so I need cardigans year-round, really. The wool is a really soft round merino -- I am worried that it will get fuzzy and pill, but only time will tell.


The pattern itself was pretty easy: 2x2 rib, an easy to memorize stitch pattern, no shaping... Even the tucks in the sleeve didn't really take much work. The seaming was really the only fussy part, and it was mostly my own fault that it became a chore.

I think it has a sort of retro cute thing going (hello Mad Men) and I am pretty happy about it. It's also nice and warm -- already wore it to work once. I call that a success!

How Not to Sew up a Sweater

1. Begin sewing first shoulder seam. Halfway through, realize you have somehow managed to put the seam on the outside of the garment.

2. Begin again, but this time decide that it looks like crap, so you have to try a different type of stitch.

3. Begin again, and this time finish successfully. Realize afterwards that you've attached the left side front to the right side back.

4. Successfully finish both shoulder seams and begin setting in the first sleeve, only to realize that there is no way the sleeve cap is going to fit in the sleeve shaping on front/back of the sweater.

5. Put it in a time-out and go to work.

6. Pick it up again the next day and fudge the seams between sleeve and armhole until they fit well enough to work.

7. Sew both sides in no time flat, now that you're in the groove.

8. Thank the gods that you are done the seaming and now just get to knit a neckband and some buttonbands.

Something New

Since my self-imposed restriction to only use up yarn from the stash this year, I have certainly felt some frustration at the limitations of it. There are many projects that I have seen and admired, many yarns and fabrics that I would love to stock up on, but alas. It certainly hasn't curbed my impulsive nature -- that part of me that makes me want to cast on new things constantly, that disregards my well-made plans to instead skip the queue with any little new project that comes along.

I haven't felt much like finishing things, lately. My suede tote bag is sitting here, probably an hour or two of fiddly hand-stitching away from being done, and while I do look guiltily at it every day, I haven't yet girded my loins and done it. My lovely twisted-stitch sock is also waiting patiently for me to finish the foot and toe.

Instead, like a raven, something sparkly and new has caught my eye.


When I saw the simple and beautiful Emily Dickinson shawl on Ravelry, I was enchanted. It just so happens that I have some laceweight Alpaca sitting around (yeah, I had planned to use it for something else, but sometimes you have to follow your heart) that would be just enough to make it. I went out and bought some lovely rose pink beads and cast on, the other day. It is an interesting shawl, in that the construction is reversed from the norm: for this one, you cast on at the bottom edge and decrease your way to the center top. A bit intimidating, I must admit, when the first line of the pattern is "cast on 545 stitches." Yikes. I am past the lacey points at the bottom, which has cut the stitches by half already, and into the lovely mindless garter stitch body. Have I mentioned how much I love garter stitch? So simple and beautiful and squishy. And this yarn is just completely the softest butteriest alpaca you can imagine. I am really looking forward to wearing this one, which must be why I have been working on it pretty exclusively since I cast it on.


On Tuesday night with the knitters, over a long in-depth analysis of The Wire Season Three, I managed to knit six inches of 2x2 rib for the back of my new wooly cardigan. I am really hoping that this one will turn out as good as it is in my head. The swatch for it looked really good, and the yarn is very soft and round merino, so as long as it doesn't pill horribly (cross your fingers) it should be a winner.

Maybe one of these days I'll have something finished, to show off.

The Honeybee Cardigan

Finally finished, and so lovely -- the lace really opened up with blocking (as is to be expected) and the weight of the Socks That Rock mediumweight makes it hang beautifully. The ribby nature of the lace makes it a bit clingy in all the right places, which is helped along by the inch of negative ease I knit it with. The yarn is also so round and bouncy that it gives great stitch definition. I think you've probably seen enough gratuitous closeups in previous posts, though, so I won't indulge myself with more of them.


I started this one in October and worked at it in fits and spurts, mostly at our group knit nights, so I'm sure it could have been done much faster, had I tried. Sometimes a slow project with no deadline can be so relaxing, though. (Case in point: the insane Ingalls hexagon quilt that I have puttered away on for a year or two and probably still will for several more.) The pattern itself was pretty straightforward, save when I got to the sleeve/body decreases, where I had to improvise the decreases amongst the ever-changing stitch counts of the lace. It went pretty well, and I don't think would be very noticeable if I didn't mention it. The only other change I made was to make the sleeves a bit shorter than recommended. I like them this length, and would even go another half inch shorter if I knew then what I know now (i.e. that they would lengthen a bit more in blocking.)

In any case, I have finished it and this leaves me with no big projects on the needles, and a world of possible options from my queue. *Rubs hands together* Where shall we go, next?

Buttons for the Bees

Since I am nearly at the finish line on the Honeybee Cardigan -- only the buttonbands and i-cord collar are left to knit -- I took a little trip to the fabric store yesterday to pick out some buttons. They are white, and a little bit shiny, and have flowers on them for the enjoyment of all the honeybees in the lace. I am pretty happy with them, but how they will look on the finished project remains to be seen.
I tried the cardigan on, after finishing the shoulder seams, and I think this one is going to be a winner, once it's finished and blocked. A few more days and I will post some photos, so we can all bask in the glory.

The Way it is Progressing

Just in case you were worried that the Honeybee Cardigan was in hibernation...


It's been slowly ticking along -- not because it is overly complicated or difficult, but because I've been distracting myself with starting and/or finishing up several other projects along the way. When I sit down with this one, I prefer to do a whole repeat of the lace (six looong rows) all at once; that whole repeat takes a couple of hours, so you can imagine that I don't sit down with this one as often as some of the other projects I've had going on.

I am well into the yoke part of the pattern, and although it's my first time knitting a set-in sleeve all in one piece with the body (rather than knitting them all as separate pieces and sewing them together at the end) I am finding it fairly straightforward. I'm even looking forward to trying this sort of thing with some other projects I have queued up for the future.

Miles and miles of lace. Mmm... I can't wait until it's blocked.

Startitis

I finished the hat a few days ago, but don't have a photo of it, yet. In lieu of that, here is some proof that I finally cast on a cardigan the other night. You may recognize the colour and know that it is the beginnings of the Honeybee Cardigan that I swatched quite a while back.

I also cast on a pair of socks yesterday (the latest from Cat Bordhi and the Rockin Sock Club.) Four projects on the needles: twice what I would normally have, and a definite symptom of Startitis.

Peace Cardi

The one good thing about not being able to finish Damson last week is that it forced me to pick up the Peace Cardi and finish it off. I'm not sure why I kept procrastinating with this one -- it was simple enough and I knew it would end up lovely when it was done. Still, I kept getting distracted by other little bits and bobs instead of just sitting down and doing it.

A couple of days after setting Damson aside, I finished knitting the last two pieces (left and right fronts) and yesterday I finished the seaming and finished the... er... finishing. Once again, I found some cute buttons in my old sewing stash and popped them on, and I'm glad to report that it fits just right.


The only modification I made to the pattern was to make the sleeves for a size one larger than the sweater size I was making. I didn't want the sleeves to be too tight and distort the lace/ribbing pattern. I needn't have worried: they probably would have been fine a size down, but this way I won't have to worry about t-shirt sleeves bunching up in there or anything. Oh, and I made them a full inch longer than the pattern called for.

I like it a lot -- the pattern is polished and beautiful, and the Pima Cotton I used to knit it has a lovely cool shine and drape to it. Another fantastic pattern by Norah Gaughan.

What I'm Up To

I'm getting into the habit of only posting finished objects on this blog... or is it that I am finishing things so fast that I don't have time to post anything else?

I thought today I would take a minute to show you what I'm knitting on, these days.


I haven't posted much for photos of my Peace cardigan, since there isn't much of interest to see. I knit the back first, which is a simple plain stockingette back piece in grey cotton. Then I knit the sleeves, which at least have a bit of a stitch pattern to them, but still are ultimately just a plain grey square-looking sleeve. In the next couple of days, I will cast on for the left and right fronts, where things finally pay off. I will post some more photos once things finally start to get interesting.


One day, a week or two ago, as I was knitting on a sock (or trying on a sock to admire it or cooing over sock patterns or something like that) my HLM suggested that I should knit him some socks. I was understandably excited, since he so rarely asks me to knit him anything at all. His idea was to make some socks based on Freddie Krueger's sweater from the Nightmare on Elm Street films. Simple enough: I just poked around the internet until I found a good combo of rich olive green and a good true red. I also chose to make them in sport weight yarn, so that (even though they are much bigger than the socks I am used to -- and my own feet are large enough already, thanks) they will still knit up fast. As you can see, I turned the first heel this morning. We're both pretty happy with them.

Today's Tips

Tip 1: if you accidentally knit about 8 1/2 inches further on the back piece of your cardigan than you should have (because you read the line that said "knit until piece is 15 inches" but not the line before that, which talked about all the increases to do along the way) and you have to frog it back Eight and One Half Inches, then you should take a separate circular needle and slide it through one side of each stitch in the row you want to rip back to. Then you can pull out your working needle and just rip the knitting back without having to worry about picking up live stitches on that final row, when you're done. You can just pull the yarn until it stops, and the whole row will be sitting nicely on that second needle. For the second needle, I usually use one of a gauge slightly smaller than the working needle, just so it is easier to slide it through all those knitted stitches.

Tip 2: if you turn your tragedy into a helpful tip on your blog, you will feel slightly better about it.

p.s. I have spent all day knitting my way back to where I ended off at the pub last night. A few more inches and my cardigan back will be finished.