Reconstructive Surgery

Lately I have almost the opposite of start-itis (the syndrome of starting lots of projects instead of just finishing the ones you've got going).  I really want to start a new sweater now that the Swan Sweater is finished, but I just can't figure out what I want to make.  On Friday, while casting about for something exciting to knit, I came across one of my favorite sweaters that I haven't worn all season.

This sweater was my own design, knit out of Karabella Margrite, which is one of my favorite yarns ever.  It has lace rib sleeves, as well as trimming the bottom and a lace rib cowl.  Back when I was working at School Products, Arthur of Karabella liked the sweater so much he bought the pattern from me - woo hoo!

But I'd become disenchanted with my sweater, because I made the body too big.  It didn't fit with the style of the sweater.  Also I thought the ribbing on the bottom should have been tighter and longer, which I had corrected on the official pattern, but my prototype remained too loose and not in line with my vision.

I couldn't let my favorite sweater go to waste, so I decided to fix these problems with the help of a sewing machine and some scissors.  First, I picked apart the side seams and took off the sleeves.  I took off the ribbing by pulling on a stitch just above it until I had pulled out as long a piece of yarn as possible, then cut the thread.  Magically the ribbing comes off and now I have live stitches to work with.  I threaded them on waste yarn for later.

Then I took out my little $25 sewing machine (the thing looks like a toy, but it works) and sewed two lines of stitching along the sides where I wanted to cut to make the body narrower.  Then I realized that I should be documenting this whole process, so I took this picture of what I had so far:

Then I cut next to the machine stitching, and re-sewed the side seams, easy-peasy.  I picked up all the live stitches on the bottom, decreased by 10%, and lace-ribbed until I felt sure that it was long enough.  I was mindful of the need to bind off loosely, but didn't do it loose enough on the first try (as I discovered when I tried it on and it didn't really fit over my hips).  I took it out and tried again.

Sewed the sleeves back in, and voila! - my new old sweater!

The inside isn't exactly pretty, but who cares?

I wore it to knitting class to rave reviews from my students.  A very satisfactory project.  Now if I could just figure out what I want to knit next...

Comments

[Karola]

you had me very nervous there.. i was worried about you until i read the blog.. eeek thought something had happened! hee..hee.. glad it was just a sweater! missing you and wow that is a great job! hugs karola

[michelle]

wow - what a great fix. that looks awesome!

[Michelle]

Beautiful! I love the stitch you used on the sleeves and neck.

[KarenK]

Excellent job! Very inspirational post, and a learning experience for me, too. Thanks for sharing.

[Sharon]

Alison, you are my hero! I have been introspective about knitting failures of late, and thinking about various fixes. Talking about snipping and sewing and reknitting is one thing, but seeing how you've done makes it really possible. Thanks so much for taking the time to deconstruct and document. And it looks fabulous!

[Alison]

I'm glad people found this post helpful! I would definitely encourage others to try fixing sweaters like this if you have projects that didn't work out. My view was, if I'm not wearing it anyway, I might as well try to fix it. Otherwise it's a big waste.

[Shann]

Excellent job on that sweater, it looks amazing!

[Juls]

wow--that's an amazing bit of reconstruction. The sweater is so gorgeous, I'm glad you found a way to revive it.