I am glad so many of you liked the cookie recipe. I had no idea that it came from an oatmeal canister!!
When I get done with a project, the key word is D O N E. Never to return! But sometimes we have to revisit our projects to make improvements.
I made a sweater for my great (in so many ways!) niece last Christmas. When she tried it on, she and her mom asked if they could return it for a bigger size, since they couldn’t tell right away that I made it. Once they realized it was handmade, they said that it fit perfectly, but I knew that Erika was disappointed in the sleeve length. I told them both that it would be an easy fix and I had a whole, untouched skein of yarn left over. But they didn’t want me to go to the trouble. However, they finally admitted defeat and asked me to lengthen the sleeves. With fall in the air and school starting soon, the time was NOW!
I threw in a piece of yarn so I could rip back.
Length added — about 2 inches I think. It should fit better!
As long as I was at it, I decided to fix my Hitofude. I had just worn it and it bugged me yet again that the sleeve “seams” have no give whatsoever. They are joined using a 3-needle bind off and there just isn’t any stretch at all. I tug and nothing happens.
So, I threaded a small needle through each side of the bind off before unzipping the seam (not going all the way to the armpit or to the outside edge). That way I did not have to try to catch two sets of teeny live sts at the same time. It actually worked. For both sleeves! I joined them with a stretchy 3-needle bind off, that doesn’t look very good, but works better. To add stretch, I did a k1 (k1, k these 2 sts tbl) but going through both layers at the same time.
The most amazing thing is that I found the leftover yarn for both of these redo’s. Awesomeness!!!
PS – someone on Ravelry was discussing my Hito and pondering grafting the sleeve seams instead of the 3-needle bind off or its variations. I did graft the seams on my Sweet Dreams Hito and it worked fine. You really don’t need structure there. I just didn’t feel like taking the time to graft my gray Hito. Call me lazy!!
This line, “…they couldn’t tell right away that I made it.” made me smile. We work so hard to make things by hand and sometimes it seems the ultimate compliment (at least I think it’s a compliment) is when folks think we bought it! We have made it so well, that they can’t tell it’s handmade.
Comment by Mimi — August 18, 2015 @ 8:08 am
What a wonderful Auntie you are! Great testimony for saving the “bits and bobs.” Beautiful job! You will be so much happier to have fixed your Hitofude. Very interesting blog entry.
Comment by Kathy W. — August 18, 2015 @ 6:45 pm
When I first looked at the picture of the red sweater I thought it was store bought. You do such excellent work!
Comment by Kay — August 19, 2015 @ 10:37 am
The red sweater is just lovely. You do such nice work. I’m glad it will fit her better now. I have had a Hitofude in process for a long time now. Maybe I’ll get going on it for use this fall. Right now it’s 90 degrees, LOL.
Julie
Comment by Julie in San Diego — August 19, 2015 @ 2:04 pm