You won’t believe how close to done this sweater was before I completely screwed it up. Seriously. I was sewing on the last button. I was about 8 seconds from finishing the sweater.
Earlier today I was telling someone about this baby sweater and I mentioned that I wasn’t entirely happy with my colour choices. The original Snake Charmer sweater, which was designed and knit by the Yarn Harlot, is in my favourite shade of blue. But blue wasn’t available when I bought the yarn and I thought a fresh vibrant spring green would be perfect.
Sometimes colours look better in the store than they do in real life. Once I started knitting it I realized it wasn’t so much a fresh spring green as it was an intense and unnatural lime green.
“But that’s okay,” I said to myself, “The snakes will subdue it.”
You know you’re in trouble when you say things like that to yourself.
When it came time to knit the snakes, I realized they had to be in fairly intense colours themselves if they were going to stand a chance against that lime green background. And, in case you didn’t know, every other colour in the spectrum clashes with lime green.
The snakes may have subdued the sweater a little bit, but I still wasn’t entirely happy with it. I was going to post it on here and ask you guys what you thought about the riotous explosion of colours. I wanted your honest opinions about whether it was too tacky. But that was before the disaster struck.
First I needed a model.
Papa Bear tried it on, but the sweater was too small for Papa Bear.
So one of the Boudoir Dolls tried it on, but it was too big for her.
I looked around for another volunteer somewhere between Papa Bear’s and Boudoir’s size. Aha!
And then I remembered that I hadn’t yet sewn on the buttons. Just three little buttons. I sewed the first one on, using strands of the original lime green yarn. Lovely. I sewed the second one on. Perfect. I sewed the third one on. The yarn was a little bunchy looking. I decided, in the interests of perfectionism, to remove the button and sew it on better.
That’s when I cut the yarn. Only it wasn’t the button yarn. It was the sweater yarn. It left a gaping hole in the sweater which is destined to travel and unravel until the sweater is just a pile of yarn and snakes.
My knitting guru is on vacation. I won’t see her for a week and I don’t trust myself not to touch the sweater for that long. I know I’ll start messing with it and making it worse. Besides, it’s for Cynthia’s baby and she’s due any day now. (The rest of you new parents can breathe a sigh of relief that this one’s not for you.)
This is weird, but now that I’ve ruined it, I’ve decided I love the sweater and the colours. Does anyone know how I can salvage it?
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I used to fix holy sweaters for people. This is sort of how I did it. I would take cotton thread of the same color, and working from the back… I would make little stitches to first tack off all the cut pieces. Than I would close off the hole (still from the back) by sewing into only have of the thickness… I have no idea if this makes any sense in writing… A lot of it is done by intuition… Oh, I feel for you. I saw the sweater when we were at Spins and needles, and I loved the color…
I would stitch around the hole with sewing thread (in an unnatural lime green, if available) and then duplicate stitch over it and ‘redraw’ the correct button hole if possible, similar to the way you can ‘recreate’ a correctly crossed cable or a stitch instead of normal accidental hole. When in doubt, try duplicate stitch; that’s my motto.
First off – it is totally possible to fix, so don’t panic! You can graft that hole together and it will never show (besides, it will be under the button, won’t it? Who ever looks under the button?)
If you want to try it out before doing it on the actual sweater, knit yourself up a little swatch (it only has to be a few stitches by a few rows) and then cut one of the stitches, to imitate the hole in the sweater. You can then try different methods without worrying about making matters worse. Once you feel confident, you can do it for real.
Alternatively, there’s a knit night at the Bridgehead on 3rd and Bank on Wednesday – you could always bring it (and some extra yarn and a tapestry needle) and one of us could help you fix it.
Oh boy. This sounds like a delicate operation, requiring good light, eyeglasses, sharp tools and a steady hand. Definitely not a job for me. 😉
(Aubra, I don’t know if this makes any difference, but the bad hole is on the button side, not the buttonhole side.)
Leanne, you know what, I might just do that since I don’t trust myself to do it. Thanks!
If I was your cat I’d suggest a little gasoline and a match… but I’m not so I’ll wish you good luck. I dated a woman years and years ago who did the same thing, at pretty much the same stage of completion, with her first baby-sweater… I can remember how devastated she was. You might want to put it aside for a few days then come back to it, just until your hands get steady again.
I know nothing about knitting so not help there but I LOVE that sweater! Do you make them for sale?
I don’t know how to fix it – I do really messy darning!
But you need to give me the pattern just for the snakes I must do a medusa hat!!!!
I also can’t help but I think it’s gorgeous! Just wanted to let you know…
You guys like it? Really? You’re not just saying that to cheer me up?
Gabriel – you’re right, I should back away from the sweater before I do it any more harm. Just step back, breathe deeply, focus on something else. (But it’s kinda like when you lose a tooth and your tongue can’t stop exploring the hole…)
Don Mills Diva, thank you! But no, I don’t make them for sale. I’m a painfully slow knitter and the only way I could make it worthwhile to knit for money would be to find people willing to pay hundreds of dollars for baby sweaters. 😉 But if you feel like learning how to knit, this sweater’s a pretty easy place to start.
Mud mama, the pattern’s free on knitty.com. The direct link to the pattern is in the post. The snakes are i-cord with a bit of head-shaping and french-knot eyes.
Thanks Sin!
I think it is beautiful … bright and cheerful!
I am fan of the lime green. Green is hot these days…
Your knitting crisis confirmed to me why I don’t knit. I know there are knitters out there who can fix stuff like this, but when you are a novice knitter, this is the kind of stuff that can really bring you down.
Do babies really like having snakes on their sweaters? Did anybody ask them? And that colour is very ugly.
But I don’t mean to be discouraging. Here is some good advice: Start again. Use blue. No snakes. Good luck!
Aggie, have you worn your coat that matches Zoom’s green baby sweater, yet?
Zoom, is the Bridgehead knitting gathering a regular event?
Come on Robin, tell us what you really think.
Woodsy – the knit night at the Bridgehead on 3rd is the 3rd Wednesday of every month. There is also one on the 1st and 3rd Fridays at the Bridgehead on Wellington.
Personally I’m not a fan of snakes (real or knitted — more like phobic) but I do like the little baby sweater, its color and the snake motifs are colorful.
I’d say try the techniques you are comfortable with on a swatch and if that works AND you are happy with the outcome, then try it on the sweater.
If you are not comfortable fixing the sweater or the swatch darning doesn’t look right then wait for your knitting guru.
Even if it means having a friend hold onto the sweater for you so until the week is over. Its better to wait than add more things to fix.
Thank you Leanne ; )
Aggie, how are the booties coming along? (Mine are done except the buttonhole loops and the buttons.)
Robin, one of the nice things about knitting for babies is they have no fashion preferences yet. You can dress them up in anything at all and they don’t even bat an eye. Just like Duncan. (Thanks for the advice, but I’ve decided to like the green after all. It’s a lot easier than starting over.)
Mo, good advice. I started the Central Park Hoodie this morning in order to distract myself from the Snake Charmer.
I knit my hair stylist an electric green baby sweater. The yarn looked “fun” in skein, fluorescent in sweater. She was speechless (and not in a good way). But now that she is expecting baby #2, she says she is looking forward to using that sweater again. At least she will be able to find the little booger in the dark.
That’s the same green as the wild parrots sitting on the cable wires here in Clearwater!!!!
Abby, yeah, that’s exactly what happened in my yarn store. The yarn looked fun, and then it completely changed its character on the needles and became a mockery of itself and all things green.
Merle, I bet it looks excellent on a wild parrot. Maybe I should knit little parrot sweaters for those cool evenings. (By the way, have there been any recent ‘sightings’?)
Why don’t you just put another little snake over the hole. I love the color and although I don’t especially like snakes I like this sweater. I have Duncan in the basket as my screen saver. He is the most beautiful cat. You are so lucky.
Zoom, I’m going to need to attend one of those Bridgehead knitting support groups before launching into something that requires me to turn a heel.
I like the sweater. There is something kind of subversive and fun about snakes on a baby…
Maybe the babies would like some spiders on their sweaters too
Hey I’m all over SKULLS on baby wear! Check out this sweater!
http://nerdcraft.blogspot.com/2005/11/skull-baby-sweater.html
How cool thats its even in lime green!
If the hole is on the button side, you can use thread to stabilize the stitches and then graft the hole. No one will see it and if you don’t tell, no one will know. Well, except for the people who have read the blog….
I too was just going to suggest sewing around it – like that method of where you sew something & then cut it out (a vest for example) – I think you’ve gotten plenty of ideas so you dont have to panic – but I’ll admit, I gasped out loud when I read what you did! OH NO!!!!!! I felt your pain!
Thanks for all the encouragement and helpful ideas. I think I’m going to wait for my guru to get back and ask her to show me how it’s done.
Meanwhile, the baby who is destined for this sweater has been born! His name is Jean-Gabriel.