It's a Good Thing I Kept Them...

This is the real reason I rarely knit for others.

I think if my finishing skills were half bad, these suckers wouldn't have started to fall off my feet within an hour of finishing them. I think if I really cared about finishing them correctly, they would still be this way, anyway. Half baked.

There are days when I dream of knitting up the perfect knitted item for maybe my sister or my sister in law or someone near and dear. Then I realize that there will be a day when that item begins to disintegrate before their eyes, or worse, mine too, and I then give up the dream.

I'll never forget my horror when I went to visit a neighbor to whose newborn daughter I gifted a crocheted baby blanket. When I arrived, I was so happy to see that she was using it...until she picked her up and the item started to fall apart. Oh, the granny squares were everywhere. (Come to think of it, maybe the memory will propel me to finish that Carnival Shawl after all. If it has the same demise, I'm thinking I'll never be asked to do something like that again!)

In my book, it's better to stick with socks if you're going to knit for others. The added bonus is that, with socks, one of them has an unusually high potential to get lost. And if your sock recipient says they loved them, but one got lost, you could actually believe them (even though in the back of your mind you figure that the one stitch you were certain was lost but couldn't be found unwound the moment they tried the thing on.)

Here's another thing: Maybe the whole Knitting for Others thing has something to do with one's imagined or realistic sense of self-worth. Once, when I was in the LYS--back in the day when I'd sit there, pregnant as all get out, and chit chat with the daytimers--there was a woman knitting her very first project for her brother's first child. She showed it to me and I nearly fell over. I said, "Wow, you're doing seed stitch for your first knitted project? You're already an expert!" Blank look, then, "What's seed stitch? I'm just knitting on one side and purling on the other."

Well, at least in her case, her sense of self worth must have translated her knitting mistakes into something that resembled a real stitch. Good for her.

So anyway. Those Cutie Booties went completely kaput. HWWV tells me I need to fix them, but I'm not so sure. I have a feeling they'll spring back to their semi-original position within seconds and I'll be back where I started.

I've been working on the Karabella Marble Shawl-Collar Sweater. I'm knitting the sleeves two-at-a-time on one circular and I tell you what, this is my new way of doing sleeves. They tell you that with this method, at least you end up with two identical sleeves.

Ha! I managed to do an extra few rows on one of them I don't have a clue how I did that...

Comments

[Michele]

Wendy, I am crocheting a granny square baby blanket for my best friend!! Now I am very afriad - would you tell me how you put them together, maybe a hint for me of what not to do?! Help!

[Michele]

I'm also afraid...

[erin]

You're always so funny, post after post, you have a gift! I would love to make a granny square blanket one of these days, but the thought of all that seaming makes me faint. The 2 sleeves together - I am afraid that when I stop midway I can't remember whether I'm coming or going, so I safety pin the two edges together so I know whether I've completed both sleeves or just one at a given row.

[Wendy]

Michele, I think I just whip stitched the thing up...I know there is a secret club holding the secret to the way to sew them up, but I'm obviously not a member..

[Lynae]

I have been sewing since I was 7 yrs old, and still can't figure out how to properly stitch stuff together unless I use a mattress stitch...which isn't always the best choice.

[wintrymix]

I've taken a finishing class and still struggle with the most rudimentary finishing. Every time the instructor would show us something, I'd think, "Man, that's so hard!" So, I think I will stick to socks like you suggest.

[Julie La Salle]

Hello,

I have been reading your blog for a while now and I can't help wondering how you can knit two sleeves with one circular needle. Do you have a book or a site to recommend so that I can learn? I have personnally no interest in socks but I would like to knit sweater in the round. Or knit mittens. I must admit I don't really like dpn needles. I seem to have more thumbs than fingers when I use them.

Thank you for your help.

[Wendy]

Julie, try to google "knitting two sleeves on a circular." It is really easy. All you do is cast on for one, then move it over, then cast on for the other one with a different ball of yarn. Then you work them separately. RS, RS, WS, WS, RS, RS, WS, WS, and so on...

[Katherine]

I can't stop laughing.... When I read your answer to Julie, I read it "right sleeve, right sleeve, wrong sleeve, wrong sleeve." Therein lies the problem. I think I should stick to one sleeve at a time don't you?

[Wendy]

No! Two sleeves at once make total sense. Then you don't have that dreaded second-sleeve syndrome. Just follow what Erin suggests and safety pin the two together. But not too tightly! Otherwise, you're likely to knit them together.

[ariane]

I'm totally going to try the two sleeves (maybe front/back too) at the same time with the next project...and those slippers, those are cute...where did you find the pattern?

[Wendy]

They are Cutie Booties from HelloKnitty.com

[Elizabeth]

One of the problems I'm having is that I am knitting vicariously for my daughter. I want to make her all of the things that I'd like to wear if I were young enough and svelte enough again. Problem is she won't agree to wear certain things. She refuses for example to let me make her a bolero or a shrug. I once knit a blanket out of multiple squares, to be sent to an Iraqi hospital as a peace offering from Knit a thon for Peace. I've often wondered what became of it as it was sewn together and had lots of cotton ends to be woven in.

[anmiryam]

You can master finishing. If, she who cannot sew, can finish knits, then you can too. I think those booties are not a good test case. Rowan Big Wool is a bear to seam well -- the holes are too big and the yarn too soft.

[anmiryam]

She who cannot sew would be moi.

[patti]

I am glad to read that I am not the only one who has managed to knit extra on one sleeve, even when doing them 2 at a time!

[Ellen]

My husband once had a nightmare. He was doing a presentation in front of many people and the suit I had sewn him (only in his dreams!) started to fall apart... It is an awful feeling to give something away and not to know how it is holding up. This Sunday I am giving away a knitted cardigan and a little jacket that I have felted, dyed and sewn. Now I worry how it will hold up to washing! At least I have learned to use Fray-Check to make buttons stay put!

[Angela]

Regarding knitting for others, I guess I like to make things I don't necessarily want to wear; also, knitting for babies & kids is a great way to try out something new (didn't I read that hint somewhere recently?!). I usually include an extra button sewn to an inner seam, along with a little extra yarn--which might be an especially good idea if you think your gift might fall apart.

[Michelle from New Brunswick]

Although I can sew anything together and it will stay together basicly forever, I cannot for the life of me sew a button on anything. They fall off almost immediately. I think the longest I have had a button stay on was a week.

I have to try the knitting two sleeves at the same time... that sounds wicked.

[Gina]

I'm giggling because we have the same flying cow pyjamas! I think you should fix the slippers -- perfect for snuggly jammies.

[Monkeygurrrl]

I'm sorry, but that picture of your perfectly manicured toesies peeking out is just too friggin funny. Topped by snowman jammies. :) I just love you (in a non-stalking/non-threatening kinda way).

[Kristina]

Doing both sleeves at once is the only way.

You should pick up Nancie Wiseman's book, The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques. It's a clear, handy reference to have on your shelf.

[bungalowmum]

If they're going to fall apart, at least you have perfectly pedicured toes... Kind of like having on clean underwear in case of an emergency hospital visit.

Your slippers may have popped apart, but you were prepared!!! And that counts for something.

[Kathy]

There's a flip side to knitting for others....you don't have to have fits when something you lovingly knitted for hour on end wears out or develops holes. Some things are for the best ;-)

[Stop Nicking My Chips]

I too, hate sewing up. So I knit in the round, and only have the ends to sort out.

Oh, and also, I only make hats, and flat things. So far.

Montse Stanley has some good suggestions for finishing techniques, though. She even tells you exactly how to safely sew in ends and not have it show.