Frogging from the bottom?

#1

I posted this in the KAL forum, but I think I might get a better answer here (Ingrid? :wink: ).

Okay, so Iā€™m knitting Topsecret from Knitty. I did most of the body, put it aside, and just finished the sleevesā€¦Picking up the body again, I noticed itā€™s curling on the bottom. Crying or Very Sad The pattern told me to purl an inch around the bottom, and then knit up for 17.5 inchesā€¦So I did that (well, Iā€™m at about 15.5 inches), but apparently the inch of purling wasnā€™t quite enough. It worked out on the sleeves very nicely, but not on the body. Is there any way I can fix it without frogging a skein and a half worth of knitting? Will it relax at all after I wash it, maybe? Iā€™m guessing not. Iā€™m using Lion Brand Wool-Ease, if that makes any differenceā€¦

Thinking about itā€¦could I cut the first stitch at the bottom and unravel from there? Does that work? If so, could I pick it up and purl from there to get my bottom edge? Did that even make sense? :shock:

#2

It makes fine sense. Youā€™re right that you canā€™t depend on the Wool-Ease to flatten out.

You could try just picking up stitches and purling more and see if itā€™s noticeable, or you can unravel the bottom like you said to purl a continuous border. I think the safest thing to do, though, is to run a piece of yarn through a destination row so you can unravel it to there.

#3

If I picked up stitches from the bottom, it wouldnā€™t really show if it ended up messy since the purl rows curl anyway (and, if my counting is correct compared to the sleeves, I only needed one more blasted row ANYWAY :mad: )ā€¦but I STINK at picking up stitches. Iā€™ve only tried to pick up on a cast on edge once, and that was disaster.

#4

From someone that just frogged an entire sleeve backwards: if you have any increases or decreasesā€¦ or if you slipped the first stitch of your rowsā€¦ frogging will NOT be an easy endeavour by any means. Each of these creates a loop that you have to pass everything through to keep going.

#5

If I frog it, itā€™ll be either one row or five rows, depending on if I decide to start that section overā€¦but itā€™s all just purled stitches without decreases or anything.

#6

Okay, so the plan is to knit the rest of the top (to free up my needle), and then attempt to pick up the cast on row. Before I do this, is it actually possible to pick up the cast on row? When I tried it with a hat months ago, I kept getting exactly one less stitch than I should have. :thinking: If this looks messy, itā€™ll be okay because the first row wonā€™t show, anyway. But does it work?

#7

I picked up the cast on row of a sweater to add ribbing, but it was very thin yarn and a lot of stitches, with the stockinette becoming ribbing at the join, so if I missed a stitch or two, it didnā€™t matter.

Maybe you can count the cast ons that you can see to knit into to make sure that youā€™ll be able to find the right amount.

#8

I suppose if I miss by a couple, it wonā€™t matter too much. :shock: Thanks, Ingrid.
ā€¦is it bad that my style of knitting is ā€œjust get it DONE?ā€ :roflhard:

#9

If thatā€™s considered a style, then itā€™s mine, too!

#10

My roommate frogs everything and starts over until itā€™s perfect. Iā€™m pretty much the opposite. :oo:

#11

Oh lord, if I did that, I donā€™t think Iā€™d finish anything. :rollseyes: