the envelope please

So here is what a shrug looks like without its sleeves but with its (miles and miles and interminable miles) of ribbing. It's just an envelope really.

What did I last say about this project? Oh, that I was about to start the ribbing. That would be right, it took a full week - 322 stitches of 2x2 ribbing for 2.5 inches, increasing to 482 stitches of 3x3 ribbing for a further three inches. Ugh. The pattern actually calls for the ribbing to be done in the round but I have trouble with that final cast-off stitch when you knit in the round. Sometimes it's ok, but not with ribbing.

Anyway, am now having some sleeve dilemmas. As I knit the body section significantly smaller than the pattern calls for, instead of the armhole falling at the mid-forearm it falls at the mid-upper arm. This means that the sleeves would need to be considerably longer than the pattern directs. I am not sure whether long sleeves are really what will suit this snugger version and besides, I am almost out of yarn.