Greetings, hoping to get some help with a cardigan I have been working on over the years and just completed. I knitted the back, front panels and hood for this “slouchy” cardigan a couple years ago. It was a little harder than I had skill, and the pattern was poorly written. I got frustrated and put it (as well as my needles ) down and didn’t knit for nearly two years. I’ve been knitting again and thought I would finish this darn cardigan up once and for all. I finally made both sleeves, blocked everything (without measuring. oops!) and went to sew it all together.
My problem is that the arm holes are WAY too big for the sleeves. I’m nearly 3" off! I must have been a MUCH looser knitter two years ago or something. Anyway, the yarn I used is Knit Picks Andean Treasure 100% baby alpaca.
I’ve had nothing but trouble with this entire project and can’t consider at this time ripping out the sleeves and redoing them. Is there any way to block the armholes and get them to shrink down enough to fit the sleeves? I’ve never worked with alpaca before and have attempted to steam the blocked arm holes twice without a lot of shrinkage. What else can I try?
Thanks for the suggestions in advance!
Kathryn