The transformations continue during the great Studio Chic re-vamp.
Not only did we go through the stash and figure out the wherewithals, the intendeds, the orphans, and all-the-rest, we’ve been going through our own sweater armoire and ruthlessly evaluating the contents.
Should I hold onto the first sweater I ever designed online (even though I haven’t worn it in years?) Yes! It came in handy when I was draping and sketching a new design for winter (soon-to-come) this week.
Should I cherish forever a modded-up version of another early outing (even though I haven’t worn it in years, etc, etc, etc). No! It just doesn’t fit and there is just no way to make it so.
But how about the batch of in-betweenies? Surprisingly, many of these are garments that I’ve worn recently, but had either poor fit issues or details that have ceased to amuse.
Number One on my personally-fizzled hit-list right now seems to be collars!
In the last week, I’ve removed them from two cardigans and re-vamped both into crewnecks.
Qu’est-ce que c’est? I carefully snip off the collar near the neckline, pick up new sts and finish with some ribbing. Easy peasy and it is just amazing how this Re-Animates the fashion thrill for me.
Right now, I’m wearing my original TWIST sample from 2005, newly-minted crew ribbing topping it off speed-knit during Burton/Bujold’s Anne of the Thousand Days. It’s so tasty, I’ve topped it off with a chiffon silk scarf for good-measure!
But I found another candidate that was languishing from lack of attention that was ready for a more committed re-vamp: SLEEVES.
Now, another project that needs sleeve knitting just might be the least interesting thing on the planet to me since there are about 4 other projects in the same vein, at the same point.
But this is no sample, this is WARDROBE!
And, like the bio-blurb says, we’re all about the wardrobe here at Chez Chic (Make It Wear It). If something isn’t pulling its own weight around here, it’s either gotta go or gotta change.
And this is one change that is going to be rather easy to accomplish.
I always like to have a plain old Stockinette project at all times for those hamster-in-a-wheel pleasurable go-rounds.
One just absolutely needs those for jaunts with your Knit Group, Netflix, marathon conversations with your elderly mom (don’t ask)…
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What to change on this cap-sleeved Mondo Cable Cardi:
- The Buttons (or lack of buttonholes)
- Snap Removal (too big and heavy!)
- And, drumroll please, Add Sleeves
So, after a few careful minutes with a very sharp seam ripper, the buttons and snaps were removed, threads picked clean, and ribbing frogged around the first arm.
Here’s the sleeve ready to rock, back on the needles again…
I probably should revamp a number of my knits, but I’ll stick for a reblocking first just to make sure it is the sweater that is the problem or the fact that it just needs a loving reblock.
You make a great point! Sometimes, all you need to do is give it a good dunk/re-dry blocking session.
I’m like a bread maker; knead, massage, measure, repeat… ;p
Will you tell more about how you “carefully snipped” off the collar? Did you snip, then unravel the last couple of rows that joined the collar to the neckline, thereby liberating any live stitches?