Thursday, February 07, 2008

Emotional Rescue

How far would you go to rescue a project?

Would you cut off the bottom of a too-long sweater? I'll bet many of you might. I certainly have cut off too-long sleeves and knit ribbings down to the desired length. But what if your ribbing looked this good? It's a perfect tubular cast-on, after many attempts. Would you cut your sweater and then graft the ribbing back on to the current length?


Cross-stitch rib with a smooth tubular cast-on. So pretty.

But what if the sweater isn't just too long? What if the sweater is also too big around the yoke? And the armscyes are too deep? Would you rip out the sweater from the top, thus shortening the sweater and fixing the raglan decreases so that the yoke fits better?

I bet many of you would, and I would too. I rip and modify to fit and flatter all the time. But what if the yoke looked like this?

My first colorwork yoke. It's beautiful. It was painstaking. It looks even better blocked.

I think if I rip out the sweater to about two or three inches below where I join the sleeves to the body, eliminate a few increases and follow the instructions for the small, the yoke will fit much better. Plus, eliminating the increases will shorten the length overall, thus I might not have to cut off the bottom.

I think it might be salvageable. But for now, I just can't bring myself to tear all this out.

19 comments:

margene said...

Drat!! It's so hard to do what's right when you've put in so much time. It looks fabulous, too. Drat, again.

Anonymous said...

Ouch. That's a tough call. It's gorgeous...

Anonymous said...

I am amazed that you are going to do all that work - I'm going to encourage you to do it. Just so you can actually enjoy wearing it. Otherwise it'll just sit in the closet and not be enjoyed.

Christie said...

I think I would just cry. But that's me. I'm lame like that.

Ashley said...

Oh, Liz--it's so beautiful! What a shame that it doesn't fit right. Put it in time out for a little while, but then, I'm n total agreement with Tienne--its so pretty that it deserves to be a perfect fit.

Theresa said...

That is heart breaking! Put it in time out for now, then I'd rip back.

Anonymous said...

Eek - that's a toughie - I hate ripping. I say throw it in a corner for a long time until it knows who's the boss ;)

Kristy said...

Oh, those pictures are so pretty! I can see why you'd go to great lengths to save those details.

But even if you can't, you could obviously do them over again. You were talented enough to do them the first time!

Anonymous said...

i think i would just keep eating jellybeans, and garlic bread, and honey nut cheerios, and everything usually off limits in my house (self-control is not a strength) until the sweater fit me like a glove.

the sweater is gorgeous!

Bridget said...

Wow, I can see why you are torn. I would wait it out a little, then try fixing it, like some of the others have said. Because you know if you are not happy with it, you won't wear it. And that's a lot of work for nothing otherwise.

(Of course, this is all much easier said than done ...)

MandellaUK said...

I feel for you! I have a sweater with just a little too much fullnesss at the back of the neck. It bugs me every time I wear it. I know the solution is to take the collar off and rip some of the short rows out, but I can't bring myself to do it.

nova said...

You are a stronger woman than I. This would be the point where I would start brainstorming women that I really liked who could fit the sweater. I am kind of a wimp that way.

Ann said...

Danielle's comment is cracking me up! I think I would do that!

Take a deep breath. Many of them. And fix it. Make it the way you want it. You did it beautifully the first time (and I mean really beautifully!), you can do it again and make it better.

Michele said...

Rip.
You're still young. You can fix it and make it right for you. I still rip stuff out all the time (and cut and pick up) and I'm old. It will be fun!

Elinor said...

Oh, that's such a hard choice. I always go with rip though. Sometimes to a sweater's detriment too, sadly. Let it stew a bit, rip and redo. That's what I'd do.

Annie said...

I think I just shed a tear for your dilemma. Would be a shame to cut anything, but it takes pain to be beautiful, right? It's such a lovely sweater!

Laurie (Moo!) said...

Oh no! It's So beautiful. I'd rip but it's gonna hurt!

SpiderWomanKnits said...

Can't think right now. My heart is breaking. It's so beautiful.

Anonymous said...

oh, no. that's so demoralizing. you know you won't truly love it until you get it right. but it was so close to perfect to begin with.