This is the saga of the ever changing sweater. Here is the information: Pattern: Leavened Raglan from IK Fall '07 (what a great issue!) Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky in Silver Silver, Needles: 17 US.
First, I knit the pieces and all was good. Then I washed and blocked the pieces. The sleeves seemed to grow, but I blocked them to measurements. After I seamed everything up, this is what I got...
See the arms? How freakishly long the are? In fact, the stitch marker is where the arms should have been. We are, like, 8 inches too long! Gah!
This is how the sweater makes me feel...
Like a freakin' Gorilla. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh...I have read, in that annoyingly casual tone that expert knitters often adopt, that you can just snip off the offending rows, pick up the live stitches and knit a new sleeve cuff. ARE YOU INSANE???!!! Won't the sleeve, I don't know, disintegrated instantly into a pile of grey kinky wool mess?
Apparently not. I tried it out on the swatch I had knit and darn it all if it not only worked, but now I could see the reason for the casual tone. It really is that easy. So, here's me about to snip off the offending rows...
See how I placed a smaller needle into the stitches just below the row I am snipping? Thank God mohair sticks to itself like a super strength magnet. I still can't get the hang of consistently finding the right stitch to catch up. Anyway, place the needle into the row below and snip the stitch. I choose to unravel the row stitch by stitch. The sometimes annoying experts just snip the whole row. You now have a row of live stitches on the small needle and the offending part just falls away. Magic!
Newly altered sweater and me, the now annoyingly casual expert knitter, looking quite smug.***Epilogue***
Niece was at my house for dinner and a game of Nertz (some call it Demon. Never tried it? Oh, we are talking good times, people). She saw the un-seemed sweater and a picture from IK and said, "oh, I would totally wear something like this". Say no more, niece!!! You can use a humongous wooly sweater in Boston way more than I can in So. Cal!
Here is Happy Niece.
She got this today for her 21st B-Day. Isn't it cool? But.... do you see what I see? Is her right sleeve shorter than the left?......... GAH!!!!!!!!!I take back the expert knitter comment. I sooooo take it back. ;-)
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