Sleeves are a pain in the elbow. I am speaking literally. The up and down motion of sewing in the Ruffly Cardy sleeves, on top of all my recent crocheting, gave me a massive, screaming, CRICK, in my bad elbow earlier this week. I decided it would be wise to suspend craft activity for a while and spent Wednesday night just flipping through all my back Fall and Winter issues of the Knitting Magazines.

Guess what I found! Quite possibly the best article on sewing in sleeves I have ever read -- and it was right there in the Winter 2002 Interweave Knits this whole last year. As fortuitous as this is on the Ruffly Cardy situation, it doesn't help me with my other sleeve problem.

The sleeve troubles in the FCEK bobbled coat pattern didn't magically disappear while I worked the body. I HAVE resolved the stitch count problem (it was me) but the bobble pattern just can't be right as it is written. I took the pattern and some graph paper to work Tuesday and charted out (on break) how I think the sleeve is MEANT to be, guided by the picture, the schematic, the gauge, and the portions of the pattern that make sense. I'm working it again now and it is going better.

I'd like to have this sweater done soon. It is so cold here I'm afraid I'm going to miss jackets and go straight into a winter coat. My husband told me last night this cold is relative. "It was 50 degrees today," he said. "If it was a 50 degree day in March and we were coming off winter, everyone would be running around in shorts. Instead, everyone thinks they're freezing." I know he's right (not only does he enjoy being right, he's quite good at it) but I'M STILL COLD.