How long could it possibly take to knit a cap sleeve slightly cropped sweater with color work in the yoke? A very long time if you go by my Lovebirds sweater. Of course, knitting the yoke 2 1/2 times didn’t help! Here’s the saga of my Lovebirds.
I saw this pattern on Ravelry and loved the original color way, which you can see here. I went out and bought the exact same yarn. (I already knew that I liked knitting with Spincycle’s Dyed in the Wool.) After knitting most of the yoke — this is a top down sweater — I didn’t love how it looked. The Sunset Strip color way was simply too yellow for me. Yellow is one of those colors I just can’t wear easily.
Here’s a photo taken after I had started to rip it out. I was much further along. There’s nothing wrong with the color; I just wasn’t happy with it on me.
I put Lovebirds aside for a number of months and then discovered a color of Spincycle — Midsommar — that was similar to Sunset Strip but had more pink than yellow in it. I wanted the hearts to pop and so I used some Spincycle Dyed in the Wool in the Devilish Grin color for those. (It was leftover from my knitted clock.
I started over. I finished the color work. I separated for the sleeves. One of the design options for the body of the sweater is to add cables. As I was about to start the first cable row, I realized that in my size the center cable was not going to line up with the row of hearts that finishes the color work. Moreover, now that I was looking at it more closely, I realized that none of the motifs lined up down the center as they had on the pattern model. Was it me? Had I screwed up? I looked at some of the other finished sweaters. No — it wasn’t me. I had assumed the motifs would line up on all sizes and had been so busy knitting away I hadn’t noticed that they were off. (I do not have a photo of what the sweater looked like at this point.)
Let me say that there is nothing wrong with the other sweaters I looked at. The overall pattern is happy and fun and the finished sweaters looked great. But as longtime readers know, Susan and I are perfectionists. I wanted my motifs to line up!
I couldn’t bear to start completely over for a third time. My solution: rip out to just before I separated for the sleeves, then shift the sleeve placement so that the patterns lined up the way I wanted. No problem — except that this is a top down sweater that uses short rows to raise the back neck. If I simply moved the sleeves, I’d end up with the neck short rows draped over one shoulder.
I decided to cut off the yoke above the color work. I found the new center of the front and placed the sleeves accordingly. Then I re-knit the short rows and neck ribbing from the bottom up.
The removed original neckline
Checking to see whether the motifs are lining up and the short rows are working
New neckline finished and knitting the body
It worked!
I love this sweater! Your extra work to get things to line up was well worth the effort!
Comment by Joyce Triezenberg — October 13, 2020 @ 9:43 pm
Wow, what perseverance! Results justify you, I must say.
Comment by Gretchen (aka stashdragon) — October 14, 2020 @ 10:30 am
Wow! Beautiful work, and well worth all the extra effort to get it just right.
Comment by Anne — October 14, 2020 @ 12:10 pm
Fabulous work! The motifs being off would have driven me crazy, too (however I would have ripped the whole thing again – I don’t think I could rework it the way you did). Kudos for a lovely sweater.
Comment by Amy — October 14, 2020 @ 2:36 pm
Love the new colors. Very inspired by all you did.
Comment by Chloe — October 14, 2020 @ 10:08 pm
I know what you are wearing come Valentine’s Day. Sally, this is perfect in every way. Love the red in the hearts, the motifs all lined up and the cable columns on the front are the piece de resistance. Congrats on a job well-done. Cathy
Comment by Cathy Rootness — October 15, 2020 @ 9:01 am
Once again you have created a stunning sweater! Thanks for all your inspiration to strive for a perfect finished garment.
Comment by Ruth — October 16, 2020 @ 10:48 am
Seems like you basically had to rewrite the pattern ….
That was really a lot of work – but the finished item is great.
You will enjoy wearing it.
Comment by Lisa RR — October 18, 2020 @ 10:52 am
To LisaRR: I feel like we have to do that with almost every pattern! Very frustrating.
Comment by Lv2knit — October 18, 2020 @ 6:55 pm
From one perfectionist to another—I love it!!
Comment by Grace Doolittle — October 18, 2020 @ 8:48 pm
Yes. This resonates with me in every way. (Well, except I like more yellow, less pink…)
This is why I hold the Rainey Sisters in such high esteem.
Comment by twinsetellen — October 18, 2020 @ 11:54 pm
I left a comment on Susan’s Instagram to the effect that no one would really notice and that Bohus sweater patterns seldom line up. Now, having read the rest of the saga I can see why you would want everything to line up and for it to be perfect. And it is! Well done for sticking to it, and congratulations on a stunning result!
Comment by Pru aka Tigermum — October 19, 2020 @ 7:56 pm