I have a question.
Not too sure if it’s feasible or not, but I knitted a sweater for my eldest daughter years ago. My youngest now fits into it and really likes it, but the ribbed band at the waist and at the wrists has no shape anymore.
Is there a way to fix this?
This piece was worked from the ribbed waist, up.
Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!
You can weave elastic thread into the sts on the WS. That’ll tighten them up if that’s what you’re looking for.
Cute sweater!
cam
Run a lifeline along the row of stitches just above the ribbing. Cut a stitch of the ribbing and unravel it downward. You’ll have a row of exposed “live” stitches. Pick them up and knit new ribbing downward. You probably won’t be able to match the color of the old ribbing so match one of the accent colors, maybe the brown of the tree trunk. This sweater is worth saving!
Thank you so much for the info - what is the best ribbing to do for waists & wrists (k1,p1… k2,p2…k3,p3)???
I want the waist and wrists to have some elasticity/tightness to them…
BTW, here is the back of the sweater
and one of the sleeves
(the date is when these pics were taken, not made.)
what is the best ribbing to do for waists & wrists (k1,p1… k2,p2…k3,p3)???
All ribbing, when new, is elastic. How elastic can depend on how you knit (some ppl get more elasticity with 1/1 vs 2/2 and for others it might be the reverse). The orig sweater has 1/1 so you might want to replicate that. When in doubt, do a test swatch of the yarn you’ll be using and see which combo you like. If you opt NOT to go for 1/1 you can also do something like 2/1 but given it’s a child’s sweater I’d keep the repeats small. (3/3 would work better on larger item.)
HTH,
cam
Thank you, Cam.
I’ll do a swatch of the ribbing and see which one works best for this.
My daughter told me I have the summer to get it figured out, but it needs to be ready for school! :roflhard:
ok, I did the lifeline with a circular needle. I had to cut at each seam as this sweater was knitted in front & back pieces. Guess what? the rows don’t join evenly, although I’m absolutely sure they are the same row, because I did the lifeline on the last knit row. So each 2nd st to be picked up has the ‘purl’ st above it (like a dash).
Looking at my work, I can see that one side of this sweater does not match up perfectly. Where the blue sky joins, there is a 2 row difference on the side seam from the front to the back. Not noticable when worn, but now that I’m fixing the ribbing, is there an easy way to fix this?
I want to do the ribbing all as one piece… do you think the unevenness will even out? or will it cause a yucky spot?
So each 2nd st to be picked up has the ‘purl’ st above it (like a dash).
I’m not sure I understand what you’re referring to. Perhaps you could post a pic. (Your rib WILL have alternating K, P so perhaps you didn’t go back far enough? The point at which you pick up should have you in all K sts of the body, just above the ribbing.)
As for the ‘sky’ portion not lining up at the seams, you could undo the seam back a bit (few inches), manip your seam by picking up a couple extra sts on the longer side a couple times so the ribbing aligns. If you space them out they shouldn’t be noticeable. It’s not uncommon in making up sweaters to occasionally have one piece longer than the other so the add’l rows are worked in over the length, if possible.
You could then re-seam down to where the ribbing starts and then do all the ribbing in one piece (no seam at the sides) as you’ve mentioned.
cam
I don’t have a problem with the lifeline.
My problem is that the rows don’t match up exactly.
Anyways, I’ll deal with that later.
My problem now is frogging this.
Frogging will NOT work! :think:
Every time I try to pull the st, it knots at the top of the st! :hair:
So, I’ve got my crochet hook out and I’m literally frogging this stitch by stitch! uggg! Anyways, I’ve been doing it for over an hour now, and I think it’ll take me another 40 minutes or so to complete the frogging…
Any ideas of what went wrong?
My problem is that the rows don’t match up exactly.
You indicated that in your previous post that’s why I suggested going farther back into the seam and picking up extra rows (in a less obvious place) when re-seaming so the adjustment is less aparent and thus, when you get to the rib, the rows WILL line up.
My problem now is frogging this.
Frogging will NOT work!
That’s pretty common when trying to undo a finished garment. You have to snip a stitch near the edge, pick individual sts to make them live (placing them on a circ ndl, preferably) and you’ll be left with the piece of ribbing left over.
Sounds like things are going pretty well, actually, considering you’re attempting to re-do a finished item.I’d originally suggested weaving the ribbing with elastic thread given that’s an easier ‘fix.’ This is more tedious but hopefully the results will make it worth your while.
cam
You are also undoing the stitches in the same direction they were knit so it won’t unravel as easily as if you were doing it from the top down.
Well, I finished the waist, and am almost finished the first sleeve.
The frogging is very tedious, to say the least, but I think (in the end) it will be worth it to add life back to this piece. It was actually one of my first “major” pieces to do, and was done 10 years ago. That my younger daughter loves it, and assures me that she will wear it when it’s fixed is all the ‘push’ I need to succeed.
:knitting: :knitting: :knitting:
I’ll post pics when I’m done!
BTW, huge thanks to Cam for all her suggestions throughout this thread (I was not ignoring your ideas, just other issues arose that were more pressing [in my opinion] and I took note of all your ideas.
Wow…you’ve made great progress! Once you’ve tackled a process like this, the next time it’ll be a piece 'o cake (or almost).
Most definitely looking forward to pics (perhaps you can get your daughter to model it!).
Glad I could help.
cam