A Refashion of My Own

Before I get into the refashion I'd just like to give a big welcome to those of you who are here for the first time cuz the lovely Sherrill from Bell of the Ball Podcast pointed you guys in my direction. Thank you Sherrill. (If you're looking for the Obama pictures you can go here or follow the links on the side bar. I hope you can find something else that interests you as well.) Michelle from You Just Gotta Keep Knitting gave Sherrill the heads up about me so many thanx go to Michelle as well. Welcome one and all.

Now onward and upward to the subject matter of todays' post. A refashion of my own.....

Yep, I did it. Before I ever wore the second petal sweater I refashioned it. Remember this post in which I contemplated my sanity and the buttons for the second fitted petal sweater?
Insanity won. I banished the garter stitch button bands in favor of a stockinette edge with a zipper. It was not without great fear and trepidation, but my instability was obviously greater than the fear. Behold the beginnings of the stitch drops.

I began by ripping out the bind off and putting the stitches on a holding thread. Then I went a couple rows pass the first button hole and threaded in a life line. I might be crazy, but I'm not a fool and if this wasn't going to work I didn't want to ruin everything I wasn't exactly sure how dropping stitches through a button hole was going to work. I thought it would be easy enough but hey, I've been wrong before.....many times in fact. :o)


The button band consisted of 6 garter stitches. The button hole spanned the three stitches just inside the edge stitch so I freed the outer 4 stitches from the holding thread and then replaced the edge stitch on another holding thread. Next I dropped the three stitches. Dropping pass the button hole was not a problem so the drop continued the entire length of the button band stopping one row short of the cast on edge.




Here is the neck edge with the three stitches that were just dropped on a holding thread. Looks kinda scary doesn't it. At this point I started to work the stitch just inside of edge stitch back down in stockinette stitch. I didn't like it. It left the edge loose, loopy and inconsistent, not a good thing for an edge that will have a zipper on it in yarn that is made of 8 individual threads that are not plied, so I dropped it back to the neck line. I went back to the bottom edge and dropped the remaining two garter stitches of the button band up to the neck. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at things) the pix of all 5 stitches dropped didn't turn out it, it is just as well though it was a sight too ugly to witness anyway, believe me.

After working all 5 dropped stitches I had some space left over. I figured there would be some slack merely by changing the stitch from garter to stockinette but I didn't think there would this much!




Yes boys and girls there enough to slack left over between the newly reworked 5 stitches and the edge stitch for another entire stitch!! So up at the neck I kinda made a starting stitch with my crochet hook and made another column of stitches between the original 5 use-to-be-garter-stitches and the original edge stitch.



I'm very happy. Yes, the gauge is off a little, it's tighter, but I don't think I'd change anything. I think a tighter gauge where a zipper is going to be is a good thing. And I suppose it will be lots less noticeable after blocking and few wearings.

In other knitting news, I started a couple more things this week. Yet another cardi, more sweatershirt casual like. Drops #81-10. I'm using up multiple yarns and threads from stash to beef up some black cotton I had in stash as well. The body is done and sleeves are nearly done. I'll post about it soon.

I started a pair of socks as a last resort to squelch my insatiable need for bedtime knitting that has been the impetus for all the new starts of late. I really don't understand why it took so long to start a pair of socks. I use to make sock all the time. I use to have at least one pair if not two or three on the needles at all times. It's been eons since I made a pair of socks (although now that I think about it, it could have something to do with the fact that IdaMae loves hand knitted socks). If all of these new project starts are the Knitting Goddess's way of telling me to start knitting socks again she could have been a bit more clear in her intentions. I would have happily obliged, I'm enjoying these socks. The sock thing got off to a rocky start though. As a matter of practice I always begin knitting at least 1 if not 2 needle sizes smaller than recommended, that's just how it is for me, but after a few hours of knitting toe up with very little visible progress I pulled out the tape measure and figured my gauge. Um yeah, 16 stitches to the inch is a tad bit ridiculous. I dumped those needles and that yarn and am now knitting a respectable 7.5 stitch to inch sock.

Big Red and the Open Cables top are coming along nicely. Open Cables is done except ends need to be woven in and a slip stitch crochet edge I want to work around it. Big Red is just getting bigger and bigger, I'm still not exactly sure when I'll stop but I have been coming up with some nifty things to do with it.