Celtic Cable

Celtic Cable

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Saga of the Brown Sweater

Oh-oh! This blog post is a repeat ... I have edited yesterday's post to add one little thing for today ... the vest I am working on now that the brown sweater is done.


Tada! That's as far as I've gotten.

What follows is Wednesday's blog post....
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I finished the Brown Sweater around New Year's Day ... but alas, it was too big!

It was too long in the arms, and too big around. 

I knew there was only one thing to do ... re-seam it. Pick out the stitches on the side seams and the stitches holding the sleeves in, and then un-bind-off the tops of the sleeves ... frog 3 full inches on each sleeve ... then put the stitches back on the needle and bind off once again.

I did that, then I re-attached the sleeves to the body.




The sleeves were bigger than the sleeve holes, so I had to be careful not to let it pucker. I suppose this means it will be roomy at the shoulder.







To make it smaller around the body, I seamed it with about an inch surplus on either side.


It made a big panel down the sides, but thankfully, it lay flat on its own. I only had to stitch it down at the bottom and top corners. It should be about 4" less circumference now ... I couldn't make it any smaller, or the sleeves would have been wonky.



On the right side, the stitched seem isn't even visible!


The seam just disappears into the pattern.


















I will give it to the recipient again this weekend, then take some pictures of it on a real person.

I learned a lot about seaming while doing this sweater. I've seamed lots of garments before, but on this one, I did a much better job. I learned the "trick" to it. I'm almost disappointed that my vest, a WIP, doesn't need any seaming! That's how much I liked it.

So it's hopefully done. I can't make it any smaller around, but if the sleeves aren't the right length, I can lengthen or shorten them. I really hope it's all juuuuuust right, though! Emotionally, I've moved on from this sweater, and am growing attached to the vest (also in Paton's wool) that I've started.

Happy New Year! Tune in again this weekend for the grand photo finish!

15 comments:

  1. Oh, it's so pretty though. I just love me a brown cable knit sweater. I wish I could learn to like seaming. Right now I'm obsessed with seamless, so much do I hate seaming.

    Awesome sweater! Hope you're feeling proud.

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  2. Great that the seaming worked out.
    I bet you are over this sweater. That was a lot of work.

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  3. I like "emotionally, I have moved on from this sweater.." I am impressed with your patience. I would have lost my mind with the seaming. I agree.. hope you are feeling proud.

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    1. The thought of pulling it apart and doing it over had me quite distraught. But a week passed before I could get it back, so I was refreshed and ready to try again when the time came! I might put all finished, awaiting-seaming-projects in a time-out from now on, it really helped my attitude!

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    2. Yes! I agree that putting it aside is a good idea. For me..it would be much longer than a week.

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  4. I like the way you seamed that, I'm going to have to try that with the baby sweater I just made.

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  5. Good on you for finishing the brown sweater! You must feel like it is quite an accomplishment, as well you should!

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  6. Fingers crossed it fits perfectly. You must be glad it's done with (I know how boring a brown sweater can be by the end!)

    It looks great, and your seaming looks perfect! I'm slightly confused by the idea of liking seaming though ;)

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  7. I'm looking forward to seeing the sweater in action. It looks great in a lifeless state but I know it will be awesome on a model. Have a great weekend!

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  8. I'm a little worried that we'll soon need to do a 'seaming intervention' for you, my dear!! :)
    It looks great, but what a LOT of work!!! Yeesh!

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  9. Wow, this is awesome! I don't know if I'd have the patience for all that tweaking, so very well done for you!!

    I'm excited to see it on the model next time! :)

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  10. Beautiful job! That's a really great idea you had in your comments, setting it aside for a short time after finishing before doing the seaming, I'm putting that in my "tool box."

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  11. Fingers crossed that we see a perfectly fitting garment soon. :-)

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  12. Well, I do love the cables, and can't wait to see it on a person. If it does needs some fine-tuning, I hope it won't be too difficult to accomplish.

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  13. That sounds like some major surgery, but like they say, a great sweater takes patience (or did I just made that up?) :-) I'm sure it'll all work out. Look forward to the grand finish!

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