Pocket full of Posies, Part 1
Ok we're trying a thing! I'm fixing a sweater, and I'm bringing you along. Wondering what's going on? I've taken a bunch of photos and made a bunch of videos while I worked on mending this sweater. I'm putting the videos up in a series of posts over on patreon, and I'm turning the photos into a download with written instructions. While I'm working on creating those instructions, I'll make the series of posts available to everyone on patreon (yes, even folks with a free membership). Once the proper written instructions are ready, I'll put them up for sale in [...]
Less hole, more decoration
I tried. I tried 'subtle.' I really did. But subtle mends on fine gauge knits, especially if you don't have matching yarn, are actually far, far more difficult than Big, Boisterous, Dramatic mends. Plus infinitely less cheerful. And I dunno about you, but I don't currently have the necessary fortitude for both harder and less cheerful. So I went in the complete opposite direction. And I kinda love it. There's another hole over on the sleeve, and I'm going to do it next. Want me to show you how? (Where 'show you how' likely means write up proper instructions for [...]
Evidence
The chop was a success, and I decided the cuffs needed to get a trim to match. Because to do otherwise would bug me. I don't make the rules, I just live here. And when I went to trim them, what did I find but evidence of a previous bit of intervention on this sweater. Turns out at some point in the past (do I recall when? no. can I find mention of it on the blog with a cursory search? also no.) I had mended a tiny little snag on the arm of this sweater. It looks like I [...]
Chop
This sweater has languished in the back of my closet for years because I no longer like how it fits. For you see, I used to be convinced sweaters were morally obligated to come down well past my hips, lest the world be distressed by the presence of my ass. I also felt like any sweater that went in under my boobs was undoubtedly indicative of a scandalously icentious nature. I no longer feel this way. Turns out I feel both happier and cuter in sweaters that actually fit. And no one has yet fainted dead away from the shock. [...]
And done!
There we go, much tidier and with buttons I like much better (they're nicely iridescent in person and pick up a bit of the pink of the sweater, much prettier in real life than in the photos)! The stitches will settle down and disappear even more the next time it's washed. And I'll wear the sweater much more often when I can wear it without constantly feeling like I have to tug and wiggle the front closed. This is something I often do to my cardigans (you can see I did it last year here) and I love it. It [...]
General plan
So the general plan is to run the first line of stitching all the way up on the inside. Here it is partly done. And here is how it looks when the whole inside is done. This won't show at all on the outside. Then flip it right side out and run an equivalent line of stitching up the other side of the button band. This can show, just a teeny tiny bit, if you get real real real up close and personal on the stitches (and it will show less once it's been washed a few more times as [...]
Neatly aligned
Four widely spaced buttons on a closely fitted sweater are...not enough to keep the button band neatly aligned. Especially if your bust measurement and waist measurement differ significantly. I am...far more generously built than Verity here is. And even on her, the button band does not hang straight. So since I put my sweaters on over my head and don't mind losing the cardigan functionality, I'm going to fix it. I'll start by flipping the sweater inside out and running a line of stitching up one side of the button band. Once it's done, I'll flip it rightside out and [...]
No, brighter
I have a bright pink sweater. No brighter than that. Brighter still. And I love it...but I have never liked the buttons that came on it. (Bright pink sweater is also excellent kitten trap.) So I'm going to replace them with one of these three. And while I'm at it, I'm going to sew up the button band so that the front of the sweater hangs straight. because using four buttons to hold a form-fitting sweater over a decidedly curvy bit of anatomy will always always always lead to a gaping button band. And that never feels very polished. I'm [...]
Bullseye
What do you think, did I hit the goal (not invisible, but fairly subtle)? I'm pretty happy with it! The first pic is the mend after the sweater was washed and let to dry, the second pic is before I washed it. Just like with most any other knitting project, mended fabric looks better after you've gotten it wet, smoothed it out, and let it dry. It's basically blocking your mend. And, just like any other project, blocking it lets the stitches relax and even out and settle into their final spots. This probably took about three hours of stitching [...]
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