sweater surgeon
I've been knitting this sweater for Stuart. I never posted any progress pictures on the blog because, well, it was mostly just a growing blob of navy blue and not very interesting.
Last night it appeared I was finally on the home stretch, so I partially sewed up the pieces and held it up to Stuart to see how it's going to fit. The good news: taking his measurements paid off and I chose the right size. The bad news: every dang piece is about 2" too long. It's ironic because I intentionally lengthened every piece - the back, the fronts (it's a zippered cardigan) and sleeves - by about 2". I had measured one of Stuart's favorite shirts and adjusted the length of the sweater to match it. When I held it up to him, though, the body hung too long like a tunic and the sleeves covered his hands up to the knuckles.
It turns out my husband is NOT, after all, an orangutan. I didn't want to re-knit the entire sweater, so I decided on the next best thing: surgery.
This is major surgery, actually, as it affects every piece I've knitted. First I threaded a long circular needle (currently using KP Zephyrs, which I like quite a lot) through the row of stitching where I want the new ribbing to start.
And then, I cut, snipping two rows below where the needle was threaded. After cleaning up the bits of yarn (which were everywhere), I took the amputated bit of knitting and unraveled it, using that to knit on the new ribbing.
Carrying this out on a sweater already about 25% sewed up is awkward, to say the least, but it's worth the trouble. If all goes well, Stuart will have a new sweater in a few days!
Now, how about I make up for those lousy photos with a couple of cute kid pictures? We had a bizarrely warm day today, and spent most of it outside. (Poor Daniel is fighting off his second ear infection in as many weeks, but he wanted to be outside with us; I fear we let him overdo it a bit.)
Last night it appeared I was finally on the home stretch, so I partially sewed up the pieces and held it up to Stuart to see how it's going to fit. The good news: taking his measurements paid off and I chose the right size. The bad news: every dang piece is about 2" too long. It's ironic because I intentionally lengthened every piece - the back, the fronts (it's a zippered cardigan) and sleeves - by about 2". I had measured one of Stuart's favorite shirts and adjusted the length of the sweater to match it. When I held it up to him, though, the body hung too long like a tunic and the sleeves covered his hands up to the knuckles.
It turns out my husband is NOT, after all, an orangutan. I didn't want to re-knit the entire sweater, so I decided on the next best thing: surgery.
This is major surgery, actually, as it affects every piece I've knitted. First I threaded a long circular needle (currently using KP Zephyrs, which I like quite a lot) through the row of stitching where I want the new ribbing to start.
And then, I cut, snipping two rows below where the needle was threaded. After cleaning up the bits of yarn (which were everywhere), I took the amputated bit of knitting and unraveled it, using that to knit on the new ribbing.
Carrying this out on a sweater already about 25% sewed up is awkward, to say the least, but it's worth the trouble. If all goes well, Stuart will have a new sweater in a few days!
Now, how about I make up for those lousy photos with a couple of cute kid pictures? We had a bizarrely warm day today, and spent most of it outside. (Poor Daniel is fighting off his second ear infection in as many weeks, but he wanted to be outside with us; I fear we let him overdo it a bit.)
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