March 12, 2011

cardiganizing

So last year I finished this lovely Lopi pullover and have worn it periodically in situations where I know the temperature will remain cool, such as inside hockey arenas. Because it's a pretty warm sweater and not really conducive to wearing at the office, inside my house, etc. I really love the colours in the yoke and like the icelandic wooliness of it (and I forgive the pattern's shortcomings such as lack of shortrow shaping in the yoke and waist shaping).

So last night I decided to make it into a cardigan because cardigans are the greatest things in the world and because it would give it a cooling factor for indoor situations.

Sorry I didn't take photos (it was evening), but all I basically did was rip back the collar (which was folded and tacked down) to about 6 rounds and bound it off again. Then I found the centre column of stitches on the front, ensuring it was in the middle of the yoke motifs. This happened to correspond to the decrease rounds in the yoke, so it was not so much a strict column of stitches up there as a vertical line. Then I took some slippery superwash sock yarn and my big needle and stitched a quick line where the middle is.

Then I took the sewing machine and did a row one and a half columns to either side of the middle for reinforcement, though this yarn is as sticky as Shetland and they wouldn't have gone anywhere anyway. I just like to make my sewing machine feel loved once in a while.

Then I took out the sock yarn and cut straight up the middle. Picked up stitches along each side and did 6 rows of seed stitch like the cuffs and collar, buttonholes on one side. Added buttons. Tacked down steek sts to the inside. Et voila!

I am going to wear this a lot more now.

9 comments:

  1. This looks gorgeous as a cardigan also! Have a great weekend!

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  2. Good for you for repurposing an unworn project! I never would've know it wasn't meant to be a cardigan if you hadn't told us so!

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  3. This is a beauty, pre- and post-cutting! Nicely done.

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  4. That is wonderful Chris! I'm not so sure I would have had the nerve to start snipping. I'm still nervous about the whole steeking thing. :)

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  5. Beautiful cardigan! That's such a great idea!

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  6. Beautiful job! You made it sound so easy :)

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  7. You are so creative! Good work!! Hopefully it will warm up enough soon that sweaters will be all we need to wear outside......

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  8. I love how you transformed a great sweater into a gorgeous cardigan--in one night.

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