The beauty of steeking a sweater is the fast, no-purl cardigan that results. Unfortunately, ripping & re-knitting slows the process incredibly. After 3 tries at this circular yoke (and 3 failures), I couldn’t take it anymore. Maybe cutting my sweater open would improve the fit? (Ha! Right!)
Yeah, I kinda knew I wasn’t solving my problem but I went ahead and did it anyhow. I wanted forward momentum, even if I hit a snag. Standing still gets nothing done and that’s where I’ve been with this sweater for weeks.
So, before I could stop to think about making a rash decision, I did it. Reinforcing the steek was easy. I went with a simple backstitch. The yarn is Lett-Lopi, the classic Icelandic wool. Lopi is, quite literally, made for steeking. Reinforcing the stitches prior to the cut probably isn’t even necessary. The backstitch, while not the most sturdy reinforcement, is more than enough in this case.
Also, it’s very fast. When making impulse decisions, fast execution is imperative. No need to let logical and rational thought catch up. It only gets in the way.
Before I knew it, my reinforcing stitches were in place and my pullover-cardigan metamorphosis was complete.
Sadly, my cardigan did not emerge as a beautiful butterfly but rather a lopsided moth. It’s beautiful in its own way and it could lead a lovely life, for a moth, once it learned how to fly with lopsided wings.
It doesn’t look too bad in the photo. It’s got all the pieces we recognize a cardigan to have. It’s still not quite right in the armpit though. It’s simultaneously gaping and tight. It’s not a comfortable sweater. I’m blaming the circular yoke shaping. It just doesn’t agree with me.
So, New Plan: save the sleeves & the steeked body, discard the circular yoke portion and replace it with a top down raglan portion, grafting the old pieces onto the new one. BAM! Perfect cardigan!
It’s almost like starting a new project…new cast on, new design choices to make! I predict a smashing success! (I also predict, my next sweater…I’ll just follow a pattern) (maybe) ;)
FogKnits 
Huh. Umm. I don’t really know what to say about that. Yay for trial and error, and for recognising that it’s not the end of the world, and something will work out eventually I guess! :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
And if it doesn’t work out, I’ve learned some lessons along the way! :) I think it’ll work out though…eventually! (which seems to be the word of the year for me!)
LikeLike
You are amazingly brave. I would have chucked the whole thing by now – or put it in the donate bin. But I think you will get a lovely cardigan out of the effort. And yes, next time, you might want to if not follow, at least be guided by a pattern. :-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Believe it or not, the second attempt at the yoke was directly from a pattern. The third attempt was my modifications to that pattern, which I thought for sure would work?? I think it’s just the wrong shape for me. We’ll see…hopefully this weekend I’ll get most of the new yoke done!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope so, I think it will be pretty. I find round yokes don’t fit me well, I need a more raglan shape. I am sure you will figure out what adjustments you need to make.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The more people I talk to, the more I’m finding out round yokes don’t fit a lot of people!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really, who has round shoulders?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Icelandic people, apparently :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rotfl
LikeLike
Sweaters really CAN be so infuriating. But I admire your persistence!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What can ya do? I’ll just keep plugging away, even if it takes a year, I’d rather have one sweater that fits perfect than four that don’t!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my goodness I think that I would have given up. Sending you some cyber high fives!!! You can do it
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel your pain. I recently struggled through a baby Cardi that should have been easy. But the needle size was wrong, the yarn was awful acrylic and the sizing was definitely not true. I pushed through with lace to extend the yarn and added colors to give it interest and ladybug buttons to redeem it. I honestly hated the finished product. But off it went to the baby’s first birthday and no one else even noticed it’s flaws. What can I say? We’re our own worsted critics. Pun intended.
LikeLike