What's this mess you ask? Well, let me tell you...
I'll begin by explaining a little something that I do when I am finishing two different kinds of hand knits...
Gift Knits
When I am weaving in ends on an item that is meant to be a gift I take great care to hide them in a way that no one would ever be able to find them, making sure that they will not reappear after wear or washing. This perfectionism began a few years back after my Aunt Karen, a knitting junkie like myself, was admiring a baby sweater I had finished, she hesitated and then asked if she could turn the garment inside out and look at my seams!... all of a sudden I felt very self-conscious.
Knits for Me
On the contrary, when I am finishing an original design I always weave the ends in loosely, in a straight line, making them very obvious, almost temporary. I do this because these pieces stay with me and I don't really consider a design finished until it has passed the final test of wearability.
While I was pregnant I knit this adorable and elaborate hooded cardigan for Elsie. I resisted the temptation to knit a teeny tiny one that she could wear immediately and opted for the 2 year size so that it would get more use. This thing was a labour of love and the end result was stunning. The only issue was that the hood was absolutely enormous, I mean this thing could easily fit my head, it looked really goofy. I retired the sweater to my WIP tote until I could find the perfect buttons. Two and a half years later, with Elsie pushing 2, I've decided to fix the hood before she might actually fit into the sweater. When I tried to uncover my ends I could not for the life of me find them! I kept pulling the knitted fabric this way and that, investigating each and every seam, where were they? With no "ends" in sight I decided to take scissors to it, thinking I might uncover them that way, yeah, right...
I've obviously cut into a stitch and now the entire neck edge is threatening to unravel. I've learned something from all of this, from now on, if a hand knit is going to stay in my house, I will always leave the ends where I can see them...
...and who cares, nobody's looking.
Eep! You're brave to cut, I'd run scared. I'm sure it will turn out; that pattern is beautiful. Merry Christmas Jane!
ReplyDeleteI try to also hide ends when giving gifts, but I never really find out if the fall out.
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought of leaving end loose so you can go back.. I just leave them loose because I'm lazying.. but I'm totally going to go with this from now on... lol
oh ps. SUCH a cute cardi! I love the colour!!
ReplyDeletewuh-oh. Well, that's the beauty of two-year-olds, eh? They don't care about unwoven ends, and they look adorable no matter what. At least you experimented on a two-year-old's cardi and not your own, right?
ReplyDeleteugh, I've definitely done that. Sometimes when I'm not sure how I feel about a knit, I deliberately don't weave in the ends on the inside, just in case it's going to get frogged.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for the trailing ends in knits for me, but I find it so hard to hide them in gifts for others, so I usually tie them in a good knot and then a little bow if a cant hide it nicely :)
ReplyDeleteHi. I don't knit. I don't remember how I stumbled upon your blog but I love your pictures and your story-telling. This post made me almost cry! I hope you were able to salvage that precious labor of love!!
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