Seriously depressed
June 10th, 2005
You know how, in my last post, I was kind of worried about stretching out the fabric? Well, I had good reason. The sweater got waaay too stretched out. The arms are longer than my hands, for christs sake. Dude. What the fuck am I going to do with this? I am seriously bummed out. Big time. To the point where I feel like giving up on knitting altogether. Or just giving up on knitting sweaters and relegating myself to a life of knitting scarves.
So I ask all of you knitting goddesses out there: How can I fix this? Do I reblock? Do I reknit? I am not totally againsts reknitting…In fact, I halfway have myself talked into going that route. But if there is an easier way to solve this problem, I want to know about it. One thing that I did mess up on when sewing this up was aligning the shoulders on the arms with the shoulder shaping of the body. The arm shoulder shaping ended up just getting seamed up in the side seam, and it did look kind of weird when I tried it on. You can kind of tell in my mirror in the bathroom shot (see the lump on the inside part of my upper arm?). So I know, at the very least, I should re-sew the arms to the body so that they are more properly aligned. But then what do I do about the body? It’s stretched out way too long. Please, if you have any advice, I would so appreciate it!
One thing I did learn from this is that I should never block a hand knitted silk sweater by soaking it first. From now on I am going to dry clean silk (I guess…I don’t even know how to clean it!). I guess the best way to block this would have been to iron it.
I loved this sweater the other day when I finished it. And I still do. It’s a nice sweater, probably the nicest I have ever knitted, and I want this to work. I don’t want this to be ruined. But, the way it is right now, it is totally unwearable! This is not good.
Entry Filed under: Chai Pullover
9 Comments
1.
Karma | June 10th, 2005 at 9:43 am
Oh, girl, you know I feel your pain. But don’t despair! It looked great before blocking, right? If I were you, I would re-block it. Do some reading about other ways of blocking, such as the mist or steam variety… I’m pretty sure there’s a good article at knitty.com about choosing the right method of blocking for your fiber. If it’s still too long after re-blocking, why not unpick the cast on edge at the bottom (body and sleeves), unravel to the length you like, and re-cast-off? Don’t give up!!
2.
Lolly | June 10th, 2005 at 10:03 am
OH no! I can see why you are bummed out… that is too sad… but don’t despair too much! I have done what Karma mentions above about picking out the cast on edge, and it worked pretty well. I think this might be the key. Good luck, Moni! I hope it works for you.
3.
andrea | June 10th, 2005 at 11:46 am
oh that really bites, moni. but don’t give up on *knitting* - when i read that i just gasped, no way! seriously, you are obviously very good at it and have such happines about it - don’t let this get you down.
i don’t have experience with the arms stretching - but i do have some summer tweed silk yarn i was planning on knitting up as a sweater and i would have dunked it in water too!
what lolly and karma say makes sense to me - especially the re-blocking. worse-case secenario, it doesn’t do a thing to solve the problem and then you gotta unpick the sleeve edge. but if it does work it saves you the hassle and sadness of unpicking, right?
4.
Dianne | June 10th, 2005 at 12:25 pm
I think everyone is on to something with the unravelling the sleeves to the right length thing. Blocking can be a bitch at time, especially with different types of yarn. I’ve never actually knitted sweater but it’s on my list of things to do.
5.
froggy | June 11th, 2005 at 2:03 pm
i’m for the unravel and recast off. it’ll look great.
6.
Lauren | June 11th, 2005 at 7:55 pm
Oh Moni, it is so simple to cut near where you want the sleeve to end and then put those sts on a needle and bind off.
7.
Eilene | June 13th, 2005 at 5:17 am
I agree…unravel & then cast off again. I know how you feel though. It will turn out!!
8.
Judy | June 13th, 2005 at 2:20 pm
Awe! It looked great before blocking. I would totally just try and fix the sleeves.. it sorta reminds me of my “To Dye For” disaster only less disastrous. Darnit! And mine wasn’t worth reknitting or fixing, because it was way too itchy.. But this still has hope!
9.
Nancy | June 13th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
Well, I’m late reading, but at least I know you’re feeling better about knitting!
Great suggestions above so I’ll just add one: call the shop and ask how they recommend washing and blocking. They may have some insight on a fix.
Have a good trip.