The Mere Finally

I posted about this project back in 2011.  I had spun the yarn and started knitting one of these Lord of the Rings themed patterns and even had the matching beads.

I finished all the knitting back early 2012 and did the most difficult part for me which was the grafting of the body to the lastly knit border (done in two separate pieces).  After the grafting, I pulled on the graft and I realized what a mistake that was.  The graft pulled out and I was left with only half of the border attached and all these loose stitches threatening to unravel.

Almost in tears, I quickly tried to insert needles into the open stitches hoping to salvage as much as I could.  I was so discouraged after such a long journey, the piece sat in a bag in the back of the closet for years.  I just couldn't face it any longer.

Fast forward to 2016 and my participation in the Stash Dash and I thought "Hmm, that is over 1,000 meters to be counted."  I pulled it out of time out and laid it out and pulled out the pattern yet again.  It was a very tedious process but I triumphed.  I made the graft super loose and also wove in the end a few places and left a super long tail just in case.  It will be washed and then maybe more weaving before cutting to make darn sure that graft will hold.

Close up of the beads.

Another 1,208 meters down.