………..is what a Parisian friend said when we asked why he wasn’t stopping at red lights. That explained a lot about drivers in France 🙂
Knitters often follow the same mantra. A year or two ago I was mulling over what to with some yarn that I’d been given some years before when, as luck would have it, I came across this easy pattern for a sleeveless jacket.
It must have come from a magazine – I don’t know which one.
Looks easy, I thought, but moss stitch is tedious to do so I decided to use garter stitch instead. I had a lot of the gifted yarn and as I don’t like short things, I knitted until almost all the yarn was used up, probably doubling the length, if not more. It came to half way down my thigh! I had some yarn left over and wanting to use every last bit I managed to knit a short narrow scarf. So far, so good.
I was pleased with both items although the scarf was a bit shorter than I’d have liked. However, I soon found that the jacket wasn’t great. Being quite long, the front of it stretched, ending up a lot lower than the back – not a good look.
I took some scissors and cut about 10 inches off the length. Drastic action, I know. I unravelled a bit of yarn and managed to get live stitches onto my needle. This was only possible because the fronts and back had been knitted in one piece, (from the hem up, not top down). The hem now needed finishing off so I did a few rows in a 1 x 1 rib. To minimise stretching, I also crocheted around the front edges, neck and sleeve edges.
Much better! Now for the next ‘problem’. Having initially managed to use up all of the yarn, I now had quite a bit left. So, the obvious thing to do would be to make the scarf longer. I looked at the ends but couldn’t make out which was the cast on and which was the cast off – I had woven the ends in very neatly and securely too! Out came the scissors once again. I was getting good at this! I cut off a bit of one end, found a row of live stitches and voilà!
I realised that I had made the cut at the cast on end when to continue knitting I had to purl i.e. I was knitting in the opposite direction. I did a few rows of what is reverse garter stitch but while I love to do knit stitch, I’m not that fond of purling. I then had a brainwave! I changed to dpns, slid the stitches to the opposite end, left a loop of yarn hanging to be woven in later, and was able to complete the scarf using garter stitch, i.e. knitting each row.
As you can see, there’s a hanging loop and no discernible difference to the garter stitch effect. The eagle-eyed might notice something else though. Something that I only noticed after I’d finished and woven the loose ends in. If the new section looks narrower than the old section, that’s because it is!
I forgot that I’d used 5mm needles on my first attempt at the scarf – this was to make the yarn go further. When I came to lengthening it, I used 4mm needles, which is probably what I used for the jacket. My happiness at finding a way to do knit rows blinded me to the fact that the new section was a tighter knit and made the scarf narrower than it already was. So, I ripped back to to the start of the ‘extension’ and this time used 5mm needles. I find that a looser knit scarf is actually warmer than a tightly knitted one and being quite narrow, only 5 inches, means that I can easily wear it doubled without it being bulky around my neck.
If I look at the original pattern, my end results bear little resemblance to it. But, I did find it useful for the (minimal) shaping that was required. Would I use it again? Possibly.
This project has taught me several lessons:
1 Always make a note of the needle size you use, particularly if it’s not a standard for the yarn.
2 Look at your project every so often, even if the TV is riveting.
3 Alterations are ok, even after you finish. Better to alter than to discard.
4 DPNs can be used to change purl rows to knit and vice versa
5 A pattern is indicatif not obligatoire.
Old Yarns and Woolly Thoughts 