Look Away!

If you're some sort of a knitting purist or something like that, then you might want to look away. Because I just did some major knitting surgery.

I've been in a knitting funk, partially because I've spent the better part of two years (wait: probably four years) knitting swatch after swatch after swatch for my books, so I've been allowing myself to just do whatever makes me happy--craft-wise, that is. 

And since we here in Southern California have had something that seems like weather (daytime temps in the low 60's) I kinda took stock of what I've knit and that I can wear. Vests pretty much fill the bill, but the one that I knit a year or so ago was such a fun knit yet I never really felt like it fit me well enough to wear out and about.

I got to thinking about this particular vest--it's actually a design by Mary Jane Mucklestone, The Fair Isle Vest Knitting Class: Stranded and Steeked on Craftsy--and plopped it on over my gym clothes just to see if there is something that I could do to make it work and I decided, dang it, I'm just going to sew some new seams. I mean, my sewing machine has been set up in the dining room for ages, so how much time would it really take? Five minutes?

The truth is, it's only knitting. And since it's wool, if I mess it up, I'll just stick it in a hot water wash and make it into a pillow.

My first step was to decide how much I wanted to take the sides in. I got out some of those clippy things and clipped here and there. After realizing that the clips would get in the way of the sewing machine, I transferred in pins for my markings. Knowing that the seams will be noticeable under the arms, I was particularly careful to not take too much in at the underarm ribbing and bottom edge.

I first did a straight stitch and then followed up with a zigzag stitch. After that, I just clipped the seam allowances and guess what? It fits! I'm still in my gym clothes (it is a California thing; sorry) so I won't model it just yet.

I think that there may be other solutions but honestly, this doesn't bug me at all. I don't love the seams because seamless is my favorite, but if there's something perfectly wonderful in the closet that doesn't get worn, why not give it a try? And like I said, if it didn't work, I could felt it and make a pillow or maybe even a stuffed animal. 

Knitting can be that way, you know? Rather than allowing a project that didn't fit or come out the way you had intended to fester inside of you, making it work, giving it away happily, or even unraveling it is always a better option.

And about the vest: As usual, I knit the wrong size and didn't follow my own advice: to try on or check fit as you knit. The pattern and the class are so good. I highly recommend it.

BTW: This is a fair isle knit out of real wool and it is stranded, so when you cut it, it doesn't really unravel. Making seams like I did is reasonably safe in this case. Now, if you were to have to do some knitting surgery on a stockinette piece that isn't stranded, you could probably still sew it like I did here, but you'd definitely have to carefully sew it and follow it up with some zigzag--but do it on a swatch first to see what happens. I say this because I did a little surgery on a piece knit with alpaca, and it definitely wasn't as happy as this vest!

Comments

[ReginaMary]

This looks great! Did you do the zig-zag seam on the inside or outside of the straight seam?

[Wendy]

Regina Mary, I did the zigzag outside the straight seam. It's a narrow zigzag, though, so the seam stays "straight."

[Vickery]

I love this, great solution!

[Mihaela]

It looks great, well done! And the pattern is beautiful:)

[Chloe]

I did this with a sweater once and have been wearing it happily ever since. In my particular garment I did not zigzag and it actually benefited from not doing so, but the knitted fabric wasn't very stretchy to begin with (it had some silk in it) and the slightly stiffer seams worked well for the look I was going for. So glad you have helped others to rescue all that hard work and maybe even make something better out of it. Chloe