Fixing and Mending

Over the last few months I had accumulated a pile of things that needed to be fixed.  The only thing I hate worse than admitting something needs to be redone is actually redoing it.

I started with Elaine's Blouse, I finished it last fall, never really got a lot of use out of it, but couldn't really put my finger on what the problem was with it.  I got it out for a cool day last week and realized what the problem was.  It's the hem.

Ugh.  Do you see that hem?  It sticks out like it has a mind of its own.  What's that about?  So I dug out the leftover yarn, cut off the hem, picked up the stitches and knit a ribbed hem.

The ribbing will relax a bit when I wash it, but I think it will be fine.  At least it isn't like having little bits of cardboard on the bottom of my sweater.

I think it's MUCH better.

Next up was the hoodie I made to wear to belgium, Azami, with this crazy long hood that made the sweater try to choke me b/c it was so heavy it pulled the whole neckline up slowly but inexorably.

I don't like being choked, it doesn't work for me, so now I have this.

It's not perfect, but I think it's functional and I'll wear it more than with the hood, and it didn't change the look on the front.

Weird lighting.  But I have to say, then when I think about all the time, the endless endless endless hours I spent knitting that freaking hood, ooooooooh that makes me crazy!

Next up were Scott's flip top mitts.  The had some problems, the top didn't stay in place and cover his fingers completely, so I ripped off the top and reconfigured it, moving the flip-top base as low as it could go on the back of the hand and making it taller.  I have to say, the new one looks like  a better mitten shape, so I think that's a good sign.  

I also cut down the stitch count on the flip top to make it fit a little snugger around his fingers.  Hopefully all of those things will make them better and more functional mitts.

This amuses me

I don't have teeny tiny little hands, I actually have fairly long hands for a woman, but those mitts dwarf me, for some reason it cracks me up to see how much bigger his mitts are.

Next up, some duplicate stitching on a heel that's totally threadbare.

I got a darning egg from knit picks, replacing the handy lightbulb I had been using, and this is better because now I'm not afraid that if I grip it too hard it will shatter in my hands, that would be bad.

About 30 min later I have this

It's not perfect, and it's not going to last forever, but it will get me another year out of these socks and that's good enough for me.  I have 4 more pairs to mend, some that actually need to be darned, but mostly a duplicate stitch situation.  I am much happier to do the duplicate stitch before the hole actually forms than to do the darning.

I have recently tried out a new double strand heel in an effort to slow down this process, I'm optimistic about that, I don't remember the details offhand, but I will post them when I finish the other sock.

It was a gorgeous weekend this weekend, for some reason that put me into a frenzy of fixing.  Whatever you did this weekend, I hope you felt as productive as I did!!

Comments

[KathleenC]

I'd been thinking about the same kind of fix to the Azami pattern (just because I don't like the feeling of hoods of any size). It looks great! Thanks for the inspiration!

[Heather]

Great fixes for the sweaters and the mitts!! They both look great. I think the sock looks great too. Very productive - nicely done!

[Jocelyn]

Wow! I am very impressed! Those knit fixes are perfect - you look so much happier in the new versions of your sweaters :). I haven't been very productive in the fiber realm lately, but I did spent nearly 12 hours over the last few days grading one (1) pile of papers, so that was a good accomplishment!