I’ve become an avid knitter in the past two years and have sent so many people to this web site and use it all the time, but I’ve never joined the forum! I can’t find anything on this topic, so it’s time to join up with all you helpful folks :notworthy: !
Here’s the deal:
I’m almost finished with a lovely sweater–my first set-in sleeve project knit in the round. Here’s the pattern: htp://www.magknits.com/Aug05/alice.htm
It fits great; even the color work turned out! Problem: it’s a bit short. It’s knit from the bottom up, with the first rows in garter stitch. Is it possible to remove the cast-on rows, frog a couple of rows and knit DOWN the sweater without making it look bad? If so, how?
Thanks!
Yes, you can do this. I’ve done it, and was happy with the results. But because of the direction of the knitting, you have to pick out each stitch instead of ripping out.
Since that is the case, it’s best to make the snip just below where you want to pick up and knit. If you want a longer stockinette section, snip a stitch in the garter row right beneath it and start taking out stitches. If you just want to lengthen the garter section, choose a row to start anywhere in the section.
By the way: I’ve started my bottom-up sweaters with a provisional cast-on. Then I can make the bottom edging as long as necessary after I’ve tried on the finished sweater. Saves the hassle of pulling out all those stitches.
Can I insert a lifeline and take it out to the lifeline?
When you say snip and take out stitch by stitch, do you mean snip a single yarn in the row below the one I want to start the stockinette on?
Do I then frog the bottom rows? Or do I take each stitch out one by one for all three rows?
Check this out:
The link from CarmenIbanez is a good one, but I don’t think you have to get that fancy.
Yes, you can insert a lifeline – as a matter of fact, it’s a good idea. There’s a video about that under the Basic Techniques / More section of this site. It’s under “Fixing Mistakes,” and it’s called “Inserting a needle into a destination row - before unravelling.”
What I was trying to convey earlier is that you have to pull the entire thread through every stitch when you’re unravelling from the bottom. So cut a stitch or two right below your destination row, then pull out the yarn from each stitch. You can cut it every once in a while so you don’t end up pulling three or four feet of unravelled yarn through every stitch.
Then you’ll be left with the portion below where you cut off. You can certainly frog that from your cutoff point – remember, at that point, you’re unravelling downward, and it acts like any frogging. If you don’t need the yarn, you can just throw it away without frogging, or use it for a headband, or something. But you can certainly frog it and use it in your reknitting.
Does that make any sense? I think that once you take the plunge and make that cut, you’ll see what I mean about pulling the yarn through the stitches, and you’ll figure out how to proceed. It’s hard to describe, but easy enough to do.
Good luck!
Thanks!
That makes it sound easier and I understand the process. I need to finish sewing on the sleeve and then I’ll try it.