Sweater Surgery: A Success Story

The last time you saw my Warm Breeze Cardigan (that would be Tanis Lavallee's Coolbreeze Cardigan), it looked something like this:

Major sweater fail. Monumental fail. So much fail.

I set the sweater aside for a bit while I pondered how to best remedy this situation.

I really couldn't stomach the idea of ripping out the ribbed cuff (ugh), the colorwork (double ugh), adding 4" to the sleeve, and then reknitting said colorwork and hem.

I knew if that was my plan going forward, this sweater would languish in WIP purgatory forever.

So I came up with a daring new plan.

I would cut the cuff and colorwork portion off, knit the sleeve to the right length, and then graft them back on.

Sounds pretty simple, right?

Actually, it probably sounds terrifying, but it actually was pretty simple.

 A quick snip just above the colorwork . .. 

 Slowly unraveled, placing the cuff stitches on waste yarn as I went . . .

And tada! Sleeve stitches back on the needles, ready to work.

I knit the necessary 4", and then set about kitchenering the two pieces back together.

  Looking a little rough at first . . . .

 A few stitches seem to have been put on the needle backward, but oh well . . .

 Just needs a little blocking, I think . . .

 And voila! Sure, it's not perfect, but I doubt anyone's going to come up to stare at my sweater sleeves.

A wearable sweater!

Wittle Saturday Wednesday Bound Off Sampler . . . Post

The speed at which the days slip away from me is astounding. I intended to come here and post this on Wittle Wednesday, yet here it is Saturday, and I'm just now sitting down at the computer. But, since I have no Saturday Sampler post prepared, I guess I can just go ahead with JJ's sweater.

My little booger angel turned 10 months old on Monday! So incredible to be closing in on a year already.

He's crawling, chasing the cats, pulling to a stand on anything stable (and not-so-stable), cruising, walking with his walker and determined to crack his head open the instant I turn my back.

To celebrate, I made him wear his finished Coolbreeze cardigan--with sleeves of equal length!--and pose with Christmas lights, which he did not appreciate at all.

Oh well. Just the start of a never-ending parade of things to be done to make mommy happy.

For JJ's sweater, I used a brick red for the main color, and started the chevron pattern with the lightest color and worked back to dark brown. I should've also used the lightest color on the sleeve ribbing, but I wasn't sure I would have enough to finish my cardigan, so I opted for brown.

(And since I still have 4 inches of sleeve to add to my cardi, this was probably a wise choice.)

This was a very straightforward pattern, though as I recall, I thought something was a little off on the final yoke decrease round, it didn't quite seem to fit the established pattern, but I figured it out quickly. The colorwork section is easy to memorize, and though there are LOTS of ends to weave in, it's easy to wind them through and around the slipped stitch strands on the wrong side.

Is this safe? I'm calling child services!

I knit the 12 month size, and barring any major growth spurts (knock on wood), it should last through the winter. Now, in the midst of all the Christmas knitting, I must fix my own cardigan so we can get at least ONE measly photo of us in our coordinating sweaters.

Yippie!

WIP Weekend: Coolbreeze Cardigan and Wee Austin Hoodie

I am still finding some time to knit, in stolen moments here and there: when baby naps (which seems to be for either 30 minutes or 2 hours; but I never know which one I'm going to get), when CP is home in the evenings and on weekends to help with baby wrangling, or when JJ is sufficiently distracted by his playmat. It doesn't seem like much, but it has allowed me to make some progress on two projects.

First, my Coolbreeze Cardigan.

I just adore this one. Tanis created two sweater kits for this design, and I picked the warm one. The color selection is amazing, and while the yoke looks somewhat complicated, it's actually an easy to memorize slipped stitch pattern that works up quickly. Lots of ends to weave in, but I think it will be worth it.

My hope is to knit JJ a reverse version of this cardigan, using brick red as the main color, and then maybe the matching hat for CP, so we can be disgustingly cute for holiday cards this year.

I've also nearly finished the Wee Austin Hoodie for JJ, just in time for it to be too warm for him to wear it:

I've just got one sleeve left to finish, and buttons to attach--the primary concern being I don't think I actually have any buttons suitable for this project. 

I'm knitting the smallest size, 6 months, which will probably fit JJ sometime in July . . . sigh. I suppose it might come in handy for over-air conditioned places.

I hope.