The No Frills Cardigan That Never Ends | KNITTING PODCAST | Episode 12

[@ShanaH414]

One tip: if you opt for sweater surgery, consider removing length within the stockinette so you would be grafting stockinette to stockinette and not stockinette to ribbing. It will be the joining much, much easier!

[@DorkAcademia]

I would suggest this and in addition adding a few long short rows to even out the length in the back and the front.

[@Tailoring.Knit.Studio]

Ali, I love your mustard coat, it's wonderful! I'm going to knit it for myself.🥼🥼🥼 I want to share with you a solution to that length of the fronts with respect to the part of the back that is excessive! The dimensions are approximately 25 cm wide and the length of the back (which is greater than the size) and the cables are connected to the shorts of the button band. There is a balance between the length and the fronts that the achievement of the points corresponds to the neckline of the chest. If you love it and have it all, it's perfect! I leave you my huge hug!

[@kimmyk3640]

What I would do is take a contrast color and a tapestry needle, and stitch a line, say, 2" up from the bottom, then look in the mirror and see if you like the length. That way, the sweater will lay where it lays, without extra weight from folding and pinning. Hope that helps. Good luck!

[@rebeccakeller6141]

I have never regretted ripping back and re-knitting to get a better fit! Love your cardigan!!

[@ellenowlin]

for the cardigan i would honestly rip all the way back 2x the length of the ribbing. so if it's 3.5in i would rip back to 7in and then re-start the ribbing there and do the full 3.5in. the cardigan is so long and it's only going to grow more over time...and the things we put in our pockets can be pretty heavy. a phone is enough to weigh something stretchy down by at least 2in.

[@TheSeamlessKnitter]

I would rip back 3 inches before the rib and then do 3 inches of rib and call it done.

[@Serenity-fu8xz]

The book nook❤

[@yay5112]

I love the color of the cloudbow! the color pooling reminds me of when light comes in through the window and casts a rainbow.

[@despinavassos7865]

When I look at you wearing the sweater, the ideal length would be where the jeans you are wearing ends. I figure since you've taken all this time to knit the sweater, rip back and restart the rib. Personally I prefer the 3 inch rib.❤

[@ryoknits]

I would honestly take 6” off the duster. I laughed at your commentary on book titles. My least favorite trend was when everything was The Something’s Wife or The Something’s Daughter as if none of these women existed outside their relationship to someone else. I love your piano segment! Someday I’ll get around to learning piano, I would love to be able to play some Queen songs.

[@aqua8697]

Love the mustard colour and the sleeve length of that gorgeous long cardigan ❤ Those are some tough options 🙈. I can't help you😅. Can't wait to see what you decide.

[@nonnasstitchingloungewithr7281]

I would just go to the same width as the collar and call it a day. I think it would be the perfect length and the easiest. Good luck!

[@LidijasOriginals]

I love this mustard colour. The duster looks great on you just the way it is now. Honestly, I would bind off where you have it now. You have done blocking tests and fabric didn’t stretch that much. You may be unhappy with having it too short. It’s meant to be floor length

[@annasullivan2564]

I picked piano back up as an adult after maybe 2 decades of only occasionally plinking around to see if I could still do it, and I was surprised at how much better I was at sight reading and playing in general than when I was a kid. I think a lot of it has to do with just growing up and being better at learning on my own, but playing whatever I'm actually interested in is pretty significant too. I think a lot of my resistance to practicing early on was because I was playing music I didn't like. Of course, the last few months I've been knitting and spinning yarn, so I haven't been playing piano very much. Here's my sign to get back into it I guess!

[@ashleyanderson1644]

Sweater looks great! Make sure to take into account the length when wearing shoes! You will likely be wearing the sweater outdoors with shoes/boots?

[@wigglymoose]

i really love the mustard color on you! as for weaving in the ends, i feel best when i split the plies and duplicate stitch each ply at different rows. it’s a little fiddly with yarns like kfo pure silk but it shouldn’t be too visible in wool or other more forgiving fibers

[@wigglymoose]

and i do block before weaving in ends just in case i need to frog or make some alteration 😅

[@palakp310]

Omg! You are so close on your sweater and it looks amazing on you! A couple of unsolicited thoughts. For, option 1, I don't think you need to do a lifeline if its non superwash wool. You could try this: lay it flat on a table and rip back to the row before the row that you want to bind off on. Then do a "controlled frog" and unravel one stitch at a time, and pop it back on the needle. To figure out if you will be happy with the length, you can use safety pins to pin it up and wear it for a while. I sometimes also bind off the easy way, leave a long tail and wear it for a while before putting a more time intensive bind off on there. Lastly, there is a non sewn bind off, "lori's twisty bind off" that is a good sub for Italian bind off (imo), and much easier to undo in case you want to take length off later. Your work is amazing and whatever you choose to do will be fantastic.

[@life-thymesolutionsllc7257]

What about folding the hem in half and sewing to keep bottom weight and reduce curling?

[@terralia644]

Ooh that looks so good! I'm here for the great Cardigan odyssey. Chances are when you did your initial block and draped it over your chair, you didn't add extra weight to represent the weight of the additional knitting and weight of the pockets. If I were you, though, I probably would do one and tell myself I would do three if I absolutely had to and hoped it never became necessary. It's just knitting, that's the beauty of making our own stuff. Also I vote 3/4 length, just bind it off! It looks intentional with the peplum length.

[@Pinnipedantic]

Hey! Since I'm working on Cloudbow at the same time, I have some insight. The fuzziness of the mohair obscures any knit-as-you-go tail weaving. It's fine to just have like a few inches of tail. For me, the gauge is so open/uneven that ends aren't really gonna change it up. I LOVE that sleeve length. I think if you go to the wrist with a bubble sleeve it'll get in the way and decrease use (but of course i'm doing puffy short sleeves so ymmv). Also don't forget barber cord if the needles slide out too easily! I'm having my own whole thing with this pattern because the way it's written for larger sizes doesn't jibe with the way i want it to fit, so i'm going back in and adding on. Luckily, everything goes so quickly, but it does take some mental spatial reasoning which is hard... I really love the fabric! It feels like a unicorn oil spill 😂😂

[@Pinnipedantic]

i should add, i'm making a size 5, adding more length, and using one skein for the top and i assume one skein for the peplum. I'm also using leftover fingering weight sock yarn to stabilize the cuffs and collars instead of knitting double

[@soolee8747]

FYI, Lykke has interchangeable needle tips in 7mm, which you can buy separately. It’s very annoying that it doesn’t come included in the standard set, but this seems to be a thing at all needle companies. My Chiaogoo “complete“ set doesn’t come with this size either. Edit: I think you’re right that your Cloudbow top will be fine with your current needle size. Just something to keep in mind for future projects.

[@AliMakesEverything]

Oooh that’s very good to know, thank you!

[@kittycatyoshi]

The sleeve as is on your Cloud top looks incredibly cute! If you’re concerned about it ‘not looking like it fits appropriately’ perhaps consider a handful of ribbing or less for a cuff. That way it looks intentional.

[@ginawiggins3803]

Love love love the piano at the end. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@jenmc8860]

Looks like many are saying you should rip back anyhow. But don't forget that if you do surgery and graft, your stitches will be offset. The ribbing in the button band will be interrupted. You don't have a side seam to hide the final offset in the stockinette stitch either. And I concur with someone else: I don't put in a lifeline when ripping back. I'm sure your yarn isn't that slippery, so you won't lose stitches. Just stop ripping one row earlier and then unravel one stitch at a time by picking the up the stitches as if you were tinking back a few stitches in a row to fix a mistake. Even in ribbing it's not so hard. I suspect having 3 inches of ribbing instead of just one will probably make it hang better. Might the shorter amount of ribbing roll/flip a bit?

[@FaerfolkDogs]

You've influenced me to knit a cloudbow and I am also having the hardest time with spacial perception and the fiddliness of the laceweight yarn with the giant needles. The construction is also baffling to me so I keep searching for other people who have made one to "see" what I'm doing. Idea for non-knitting segment: needles not necessary, off the needles, fiberless puruits. Well done on the piano!!

[@aleksandra9634]

Hi. I am really high as well and get your problem with sleeves and legs. Bracelet length makes me kind of anxious as well. 3/4 sleeves looks as a way to go for me. Looking forward to see what you do. 😀

[@AliMakesEverything]

Hahahaha I’m glad I’m not the only one with this problem 😂

[@soolee8747]

Bravo! Your musical struggles are super relatable, and your improvement is great to see! I basically have the exact same issues, except I no longer have access to a piano that I can practice on regularly. So the chances that I'll get better as basically zero. That said, I'm really happy for you.The mental block of not wanting to do hard things is so real, and extremely tough to get over! As for your cardigan dilemmas, I'm going to suggest something a little different: put it in hibernation for a little bit, and see how you feel after some time apart. Spending some time away from a project means that you can look at it with fresh eyes, and will hopefully clarify how best to proceed. I understand that you want to finish it quickly, but it's now summer (hello, heat wave!) and you're probably not going to wear it much anyway. Also, after spending so much time with it already, you want to finish it in a way that really suits your wants and needs. It doesn't even need to be a long timeout-maybe just finish your Cloudbow first.

[@StitchesandPrayersVlog-cast]

Loved your podcast, just found it!

[@AliMakesEverything]

Thanks so much for being here! 😄

[@EverythingBekka]

I love Moana!!! Great job on the piano!! I vote you make the ribbing the same length as the button band & practice great posture with every wear on the cardigan 😅 Good luck 🍀 on whatever you decide. It will be amazing!

[@AliMakesEverything]

Ahhh thank you! I love that movie and that song so much 😊 My mum will love your posture practice idea, she's always on my case 😂

[@rachellarsen9614]

There's an actual reality tv show called love in the wild that has couples competing in outdoor obstacle courses that you would probably enjoy!

[@amyhutchinson9080]

I think without 3.5 inches of rib you may get extra curling 😬 I’d rip back whatever you need to in order to get the right length with the full ribbing

[@BrendaBeckett-ob8wf]

I would rip back a few inches of ribbing and match it to the buttonband. I just take my needle out, rip back, then starting with a row, pull back one stitch slowly and pop it on a needle. Use a smaller needle than the project uses. No lifelines!!

[@maureenott214]

💖💖💖

[@hamidejalali5912]

are you need knitters?

[@Meredith36]

Moana at the end was amazing! I'm also practicing letting myself be a beginner (ie be absolutely terrible at things) and its so hard. Well done! Happy creating 💚🧶💚

[@AliMakesEverything]

I feel "practicing letting myself be a beginner (ie be absolutely terrible at things)" in my soul 😂 Thank you! Happy practicing-being-terrible-at-things, I'll be right there with you 😄