The Reveal

So, it's not the most flattering sweater shape for me, even with 15" less circumference (and it's still fairly loose, but that's fine). 6"-8" shorter would make a huge difference in how this sweater fits and drapes, but I didn't want to have to redo the entire neckline, or sacrifice that much design area. Even so, it's still gorgeous (and I do say so myself), and I am so glad that I got brave enough to take scissors to this sweater. I can now wear it happily.

I know that I have some more of those buttons somewhere (made from coconut shells- I got them from Button Drawer, link in Stash Enhancers) but I could not find them, so I had to sew the existing neckline button hole closed and make a new one. The spacing looks better now anyway. I decided to go with all black on the extended ribbing because #1 corrugated bands are a pain to knit back and forth, and #2 I wanted the neckline to tighten up more than corrugated ribbing would have. I am very pleased with the final look.

The final yarn tally (for the 59" chest) was 27, 25gr skeins of Rowanspun 4-ply, 8 colors (with at least half a ball left of each of the colors). This yarn has been discontinued, but you can find it still. I bought most of it on Ebay, and found some amazing bargains (bags of 10 skeins for $19.95, and that included shipping. From England), so the few skeins that I had to pay $5.95@ weren't such a burden. I bought tons of it (including several colors that didn't make it into this sweater) and have enough on hand to knit at least 2 more sweaters in the largest size (and probably 3 in my current size). It's a very fine yarn- the sweater was knit on 2.75mm needles, but it blooms beautifully, and makes a light, warm and soft sweater. I finally took a picture that shows the beautiful tweediness of this yarn- most of the shots don't highlight the amazing bits and spots of color. Unfortunately, as much as I love this yarn, I can't design with it, since it's finer than most Fair Isle yarns on the market now. But I can knit with it for fun, and that's more... well... fun...

I'm glad that I don't have more sweaters to cut down, but I would do it again in a flash. It was scarier to cut into a finished piece than doing it with a WIP, but worth the angst.

p.s. respacing the buttons helped with the wonky motif lineup, but it didn't fix the problem entirely. I think I picked up the sts for the front bands differently on each side, which permanently skewed the alignment (and it'll be permanent- I'm not going to tear those bands out and reknit them. I do have limits, you know)

Just a Little Off on the Sides

After all the angst about using scissors on Dakota Dreams, The Great Sweater Reduction of '08 went very well yesterday. The big Wheat motifs were centered in a way that they met at the seam perfectly- pure luck that. Outside of the design looking a bit truncated, you don't notice the seam at all.

I had every reason to be glad that I knit these sleeves tandem (both at the same time, with steeks, then cut, seamed and sewn in place) rather than picking up the stitches at the armhole and working down, in the traditional manner. I was able to detatch the sleeve from the cut-away portion easily, and I was able to make the opening smaller to fit the new armhole just by resewing the seam. I decided not to cut away the excess fabric in the new seam allowance because it wasn't all that bulky.

It wasn't too difficult to sew the sleeves in place, though it seemed a lot more fiddly than the side seams.

I tried the sweater on, was pleased (though it would look better if I shortened about 6"- not going to do that- One major redo per sweater, that's my motto), but the neckline was still way too big.

So I picked up stitches on the neck band (picking up sts on a black neckline with fine black yarn, and a size 1 needle- a bugger no matter how you look at it). I'm nearly done with the new ribbing (one color), and will bind off today. There's no need to reblock the entire sweater, I should be able to get by with just steam blocking the new seams. If the neckband needs washing (so the yarn blooms), I'll just wet that part down and let it dry.

l'll have The Big Reveal, and modeling pics later today or tomorrow.

And so it begins...

I'm not afraid to cut steeks. I've done it dozens of times, and have no intention of ever knitting stranded projects flat, ever again. But when it came time this morning, to cut into my Dakota Dreams sweater, I hesitated more than normally. Not just because of the whole *measure twice, cut once*, and the even more important, *steeks are forever* thing- but because of the sweater itself.

I designed this sweater to fit me, and I intended to wear it until I wore it out. It did not occur to me during the six months that I worked on it, that there would ever come a time when it did not fit. The sweater was sized generously enough that I would not have outgrown it, and losing weight was simply not on my agenda.

So this morning, when I got ready to resize the sweater for my resized body, I hesitated. Cutting into this sweater, this labor of love for myself and myself alone, signaled a confidence that I will not regain the weight, which, given my life-long inability to maintain a weight loss, is perhaps misplaced. I lost weight, and then gained it back, plus some, on a regular basis for the first 2/3 of my life. Then I stopped trying, and ate happily ever after.

Nothing about the life change we've undergone has anything to do with disliking my old self (the self-loathing I see in many large people just makes me sad). That said, even though weight loss was not the point of the change, it happened, and I don't want to do it again (and lord knows, I don't want to have to buy 3 coats in one season ever again). So the change has to be permanent- and redoing this sweater is an indication that I intend it to be so.

So I marked the cutting line with contrasting yarn (and relearned that I am a very imperfect knitter- here and there in the pattern motifs, I got off a stitch or three, which made tracing a straight line from top to bottom a little tricky), took a deep breath, and cut.

I ended up cutting 2-6 1/2" wide strips from the body of the sweater (which reduces the circumference by 13", which will be further reduced by another 2" with the new seam allowances- so 15" gone). And though this yarn (Rowan 4-ply) seems very reluctant to ravel, I still zigzagged along the cut edges (on the leftovers- with the sleeves still attached- as well).

I don't know what I'm going to do with the excess fabric, but I'll think of something after I cut the sleeves away. I'll be back with side seam pictures next.

The Department of Unintended Consequences

About one year ago yesterday, my husband found out that he was borderline diabetic. I remember the day (though not the date) because I heard the news after attending the first fall meeting of my knitting group (Knitters, Etc- meets the 2nd Friday of each month from Sept-May at the Red Rooster Cafe in Aberdeen, SD, 1:00-3:00- everyone welcome). On that drive home, before I talked to The Husband, I ate 2 Reeses Peanut Butter Pumpkins. Those were the last things I ate without thinking (at least it was something I love).

Since that day (and to be more accurate, from the moment I learned of his diagnosis), everything about our lives changed. We changed what we eat, and how we eat it, and how much we eat, and when, and what we do in between meals (exercise, for one thing). As a result, my husband (who was never heavy) lost 45 lbs, has been able to drop one blood pressure medication, lowered his already low cholesterol (who knew anyone could have a count of 133?), and most importantly, he's maintaining his blood sugar levels without medication.

Though I am not diabetic (and my bp has always been very good), and I had no objection whatsoever to being fat, I changed my life right along with him. In the last year, I've lost 77 lbs, and the most recent jeans I bought were size 8 (down from 24) (in the interest of full disclosure, the Size 8's are relaxed, and they're not loose, except in the legs). And I've gone from 3X tops, to just plain L (and sometimes M, if it's a big M). I more than exceeded my goal, and I've maintained this weight (within a 3lb range) since the end of June while slowly increasing the amount I've been eating (it's as hard to stop losing weight as it is to start- go figure).

This drastic change involved several complete wardrobe changes (not as much fun as it sounds- and pretty expensive to boot). Though I didn't realize it for a long time, the size and body change also meant that I could not wear the Dakota Dreams sweater- for which this blog is named- that I designed and took 6 months to knit (and wore once before this whole adventure started).

It's fall now, and I want to wear my sweater. So I'm going to have to do something drastic- I'm going to have to cut it down.

The sweater is 30" long (I like tunic sweaters), and 58" around (it wasn't tight, but it wasn't all that loose either). I am going to cut it down to 44" around (it still won't be tight), I'll shorten the sleeve opening from 11" to 10" (well 22" to 20"), but that won't affect the length because I'm going to have to cut the excess out of the sides, and sew side seams. The change in armhole openings means I have to tinker with the sleeve width as well. And I'm going to have to redo the neckline- either tear it out and reknit it, or just pick up ribbing and knit some more. The neckline was loose before, and it's ridiculously loose now.

And maybe I can do something about the wonkiness with the front bands- I have no idea why they don't line up properly.

It's going to be an adventure, and I'll take pictures.

p.s. I cropped my head out of the pic because it's early morning and I definitely look like it is early morning.