Alterations To The Weekender Sweater
I found 8 ways to fix a neckline & not like it
Then I found one perfect way & now I love this sweater!
First I pulled out the cuffs, joined the new yarn, and reknit them in the contrast color. I wanted to ensure on a smaller scale than I would like the way the two colors worked together.
They did & I liked them!
I won’t recount now the 8 attempts to create a neckline that * I did not like *, or rather did not work…What I will share is how I worked the one that I did like, and fortunately did work!
First, let me remind you Dear Reader of what was causing me to not enjoy wearing this sweater in the first place:
The Weekender Sweater by Andrea Mowry is adored by so many, and I wanted to be included in that “Over the Moon About My Sweater” number.
The neckline hit a place on the front of my neck that made me uncomfortable. I tried making the opening bigger by pulling out the seam. I tried making it smaller by sewing the seams further than suggested. Neither approach felt good for me.
The sweater simply stayed folded neatly in the top of my closet unworn, rather than being the cozy hand knit wardrobe staple I envisioned. I invested money in quality Brooklyn Tweed Yarn, time into every stitch and needed to honor those investments.
I thought through my options:
Give the sweater away (but that wasn’t appealing)
Pull the sweater apart and unravel it to repurpose the yarn (this idea made me sad)
Fix it
Choosing to fix it made the most sense, but wasn’t the simple easy correction I imagined.
I worked through a week and a day of ways that did not work, which yes, was frustrating. And to clarify, when I say it was “frustrating”…I grimaced and grumbled and stomped and shouted. I threw it and left it on the floor, but always went back and determined to try “just one more time.”
I now have a sweater I am thrilled I did not give up on!
Neckline Adjustment:
I brought the neckline width in and additional .75 inches on either side. After securing the seams, I snipped the bound off edge on the front and gently pulled back to a row of live stitches. I put them on a needle one size smaller than what the pattern called for and then repeated the process for the back.
Using the new CC yarn, I knit one round using the required needle size.
The following round I knit in 1x1 ribbing.
I continued in this manner until the remaining yarn had 3 grams left and then I bound off loosely in pattern. (It should be noted that I used 1 total skein of the CC for the two cuffs and the remainder of the yarn for the neck.)
I wove in all my ends and was too happy to soak and block it properly before wearing!
My sweater now is not exactly like Andrea Mowry’s original Weekender, but I know that she wants all those who knit her beautiful pattern to love it and be proud. I do and I am!