Saturday, 09 November, 2024

By The Fibreside

Knitting and spinning on the Sunshine Coast of BC

single post

Knitting, Life

Time off

I needed some time off. The last few weeks have been running hither and yon, appointments with physio, chiropractor, massage, all after work. Setbacks on my legs, progression on my legs, setbacks again. Difficulty sitting, using up most of my desk-sitting time at work. “I should write a blog post,” I would think as I sat stretched out on the couch, trying to bring some space back into my hip joints. But I couldn’t sit at the computer.

So this weekend, I gave myself permission to take some time off. I had sweater sleeves to keep me company, a project that could be worked on reclined on the couch.

Sleeves at the start of the weekend.
Sleeves at the start of the weekend.

I went to the library noonish on Saturday, and brought home four DVDs. I finished the sleeves partway through the first. Exciting! Then I started seaming. Time-consuming, but I had DVDs to entertain me. I sewed the raglan seams at the front and back on the right side, then went all the way up the side seam and sleeve seam before I brought the left side into play. Then it was time to pin on the yoke and sew that on.

Here’s where things started to get a little odd. The part I needed to pin to the yoke? FAR longer than the yoke itself. I looked at it, played with it a little bit, then broke out all my safety pins and tried to gather it in the least bunchy way. Once it was pinned on, I tried it on. Oh dear.

Um, the bottom half fits pretty good...
Um, the bottom half fits pretty good…

The bottom half, from the waist down, seemed okay in terms of size. A gentle block would even that out. But the top… The top overlapped by a good six inches. My heart started to sink a bit. The sweater was fitted for my bust size pre-breast reduction. Was it possibly coming home to bite me now? Granted, this sweater is supposed to be slightly oversized. Slightly.

Pretty deep in the sleeves too. Because of the raglan?
Pretty deep in the sleeves too. Because of the raglan?

There wasn’t anything slightly about the oversizing in the top half of this sweater. But it wasn’t finished! I sat down with the pattern. Yes, there’s a 13 row collar that decreases by about 100 stitches. But 13 rows, that’s only going to be about three inches. Will that be enough to hold the sweater up? Because as it stands, it’s going to hang pretty hard from that collar, with not even the slightest hint of negative ease to hold it up across the torso.

View from the back. I mean, it's pretty, certainly, but will it fit? Will I wear it?
View from the back. I mean, it’s pretty, certainly, but will it fit? Will I wear it?

It’s my first sweater. I don’t know much about sweaters or fit or such things, so I took it to my knitting groups this week for second opinions. Tuesday’s knitting group said that they weren’t sure there was much I could do to fix it. The arm holes were too deep, the top too wide. Ripping seemed like the best option; use the yarn for a different sweater. Wednesday’s group, however, said that I might be able to salvage it. Seam on the yoke as evenly as possible, spreading the inevitable gathers around the whole of the sweater. Do the 13 row neck, and see what happens. If it doesn’t work, tear back and maybe try to do some more severe decreasing to bring it together.

Decisions, decisions. I’m half-convinced that whatever I do, the upper chest area is just going to be too big. WAY too big. A pound and two thirds surgically removed, plus some weight loss since, and I’m thinking it’s just not sized right anymore. But what if I can salvage it? This sweater has been with me since 2009. It’s lovely, and cabley, and warm, and what if I can make it work? Isn’t it worth giving it a try before ripping the whole thing back? What’s the worst that can happen? A couple more small balls of yarn to work through for the next incarnation for this yarn.

Like my legs, this sweater is awkward and slightly broken. But I should probably try to fix it before giving up. I’m not one that gives up often.

2 comments on Time off

  • Sheila

    It’s so pretty, but yes, rather big. I don’t know much about knitting and certainly not knitting sweaters, but it deserves a chance. And if it doesn’t work, maybe you could rip it back to a point where you could do some resizing, rather than scrap the whole thing? Dunno, but it suits you and looks so comfy!

  • M&D

    It’s a very pretty sweater, and the colour is gorgeous on you. The solutions you and your friends have come up with seem to work, and you will be happy to have a warm sweater to wrap yourself in on a cold winter’s day.

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