04 August 2012

A neck for my sweater

My sweater has a neck hole!
I've started down the front of my sweater, so now I have a neckhole where my head can go!  As you can see in the pic, I picked up the stitches at the top of the shoulders and started knitting down the front. The little holes at the shoulder are intentional - when I'm done knitting I'll fold these over and sew them down and it will create decorative folds/gathers to make the top look drape-y. I was a little concerned that the neck wasn't big enough, but it fits over my head fine and I can't wait to get a little bit more done so that I can try it on more easily.

Progress is progress!

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But, at the same time, I found that I've made an error. Somehow, I've knitted a hole into my fabric. I don't know how on earth it happened, but it's on the front right side (as worn) directly under the neck. Since the pattern is written for the stockinette to curl down to create the neckline the hole is actually hidden, so I am trying to debate if I should pull out all my work and go back and fix it, or if I'll just let it slide. 

I did some reading on the internet, and apparently it's common for beginners to introduce YO (yarn-overs - it's an increase) into their knitting and that leaves a hole... but it also adds a stitch. I counted and have the same and correct number of total stitches, so I sort of have no idea what I did.

Thoughts?

8 comments:

  1. What I would do is take a length of yarn on a darning needle and sew in a 'knitted loop'. The same style as you would do if you were doing the kitchner stitch. Or you could just sew it together. that along with the roll down of the hem you should be fine.

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    1. Thanks so much for the input! I guess this might be a good opportunity to learn kitchner stitch :) I like that you don't recommend that I actually rip it out and do it right!! That was a lot of K's and P's.

      Thanks,
      Emily.

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  2. I think you have a few options. You can ignore it and assume nobody will see it. You can drop back that particular stitch column and "re-knit" it using a crochet hook. You could duplicate stitch over it correctly. You could try pulling extra yarn from that stitch tightening it and spreading it among some later stitches. I'd need a closer look to say for sure, but my guess is that you just didn't have that stitch twisted like you do the others.

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    1. Thanks for the thoughts. I think that I'll try to 'drop' the stitch, like you suggest, and spread the extra yarn over the few stitches on both sides. I'm knitting top down, so I guess if I drop the stitch (from bottom up in the pic) then I won't have to crochet it because the YO will just disappear? Except I'll have a few rows of ladder.

      Or whatever. I might wimp out and just stitch it closed :)

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  3. I would suggest waiting until you can tell for sure if it will show, then duplicate stitch, or sew from the back with a similar-color thread. It's not a flaw that will run or cause any other problems. I like the drop-stitch/crochet-rescue method for a lot of things, but I suspect that in this case you would have to do that to the hole's 2 neighbor stitches, because I think as a previous commenter suggested it is the result of twisted stitches in opposite directions.

    But mostly, I am all for hoping the stockinette roll covers it pretty well and not worrying about it. From your pic that looks like it might work.

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    1. Thanks! After a lot of discussion on Ravelry, I think you are right: I'll wait until it's done so I can see drape, etc., and then close it quietly from the back. I don't even think that it will be visible.

      :)

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  4. I think you made a little button hole, Emily. I have really enjoyed watching your progress. I was always a "sort-of" knitter, but always relied on my mother to fix any errors, etc. Drop a stitch and I was done! When she died, I was lost, and gave up for years. But then I found a book she had bought, from a workshop she attended some time ago. Don't be fooled by the title. It is about so much more than sweaters. It guides you step-by-step, with pictures, through any and everything you could ever want to do, by having you make a funny sampler. Anthropologists of the future will suffer fits trying to figure out what this thing is! But I learned to do everything, and it was probably my proudest accomplishment, at least craft-wise. Here's a link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1044083.Sweater_Workshop Mine is the old edition, but I imagine it's the same. Highly recommended. I can make lace edges, knit in tiny initials, make kangaroo pockets, many different kinds of ribbing for a variety of purposes, lots of fun. But now I'm heading to Presque Isle to get food-grade rosebuds. Thanks. Wendy (Caitlin's mother, remember?)

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    1. Mumsy Umsy! (Of course I remember. :) )
      Thank you so much for your comment. It's been really interesting for me to pick up a hobby and I'm actually trying to learn the technical details and become proficient! It's much more my style to be 'good enough', but I'm proud that I keep trying the hard thing to do it right. (Even though I won't frog all of the rows down to the buttonhole.....)

      Thanks for the book recommendation! I'll certainly add it to my list. Mostly I look up techniques, etc. online, but I'm finding myself wishing for a text from time to time so that I don't need to find and book and open my laptop and hassle with it.

      Fondly,
      Emily.

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