I've been going through the sweater closet, going through what fits, what doesn't, and what I need. I've frankly been dreading this, although so far, and I have only barely begun it hasn't been to bad.
The first sweater on the reject pile has been the rice stitch cardigan that I knit out of Karabella Super Cashmere back in 2007. Here is a picture of me wearing the sweater when I finished it, and here is a link to the relevant posts.
Now the sweater was fine then. But I am about 20 -22 pounds lighter now, and about 4 inches smaller through the bust, 8 or 9 inches smaller through the waist, and far less barrel shaped. The sweater literally hangs on me in a most unflattering way.
My decision now is whether to rip it and reknit it, or just give it away. I am inclined to rip and reknit for several reasons.
1. The yarn is really nice, fairly expensive, and I used a lot of it (20 skeins I believe) and it was a joy to knit.
2. I love the color.
3. It looks like it has held up really well, there is no apparent piling or fraying of the yarn even though I wore this sweater quite a bit over the winter and long spring last year.
My question is how well does cashmere hold up to rippng and reknitting? Good quality wool holds up pretty well, so I am assuming good quality cashmere does as well. If it were alpaca I wouldn't even consider it, alpaca can be difficult to rip just to reknit a problem area in a project that hasn't yet been blocked or worn.
If you have thoughts or experience please advise.
I will not be knitting the same sweater. Much as I loved this sweater, it is fairly firmly knitted and hangs straight without much drape. It would not flatter me now. I do expect to have some yardage loss in the ripping process but I should still have plenty to knit something quite nice, something in a looser, softer gauge.
I remember you knitting that sweater. It's wonderful that you're more fit, however, the bad side effect is having to revamp the wardrobe. It's difficult enough when you're forced to rethink store-bought clothing, but hand knits and things you've sewn are impossible! Trying belting this for a season.
Posted by: Gina | Monday, October 19, 2009 at 05:36 PM
Oh, you're not going to like this comment much, but...me, myself? I'd wear it through this "boyfriend jacket" style cycle with a black belt (you could change the button colors to black) and some big shoulder pads. And then rip :) hugs, you look so warm and cozy!
Posted by: Mary Beth | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 03:16 PM
I'd rip it out. But first, I'd try making wearing it with the fronts overlapping. If there's any chance you could do that, you could add buttons to make it double-breasted. Unfortunately, that wouldn't change the wide sleeves. For that reason, I'd start by taking off the sleeves, which would possibly leave you with a double-breasted vest. Then, I'd start unraveling a sleeve to see how hard it is going to be to salvage the yarn.
Posted by: Luni | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 10:20 AM
I don't see why cashmere would be problematic to rip (but I haven't had any problem with alpaca either). I don't like ripping "grabby" yarns, like mohair, because of the tangling, but anytime I've had to frog a few rows of cashmere, it's easily done. And there's just too much yummy cashmere in that sweater not to try to retrieve it for something you'll wear. btw, I made the vest version in a black roughspun-ish tweed (softens up when washed but still a bit rustic), and I don't wear it as much as I'd like -- the drama of the collar is often too much, especially since I'm on the short side (not quite 5'4"). Wouldn't rip it, though, because I don't need to re-purpose the yarn. Absolutely would if it were cashmere!
Posted by: materfamilias | Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 11:35 PM
I'd give it a try. The colour is great and I think a more fitted sweater in that material would be great.
Posted by: K-Line | Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 09:45 PM