Rosamund, modified with a cabled lower hem.
She is sans buttons for now, but I'll probably wear the sweater with something stuck through the front until I can find bigger buttons. I had a couple I thought might work but the wool is so sturdy and substantial that I think I'll keep looking for bigger ones. I also haven't sewn in any hook and eye closures, as I'm not sure I'll want them once there are buttons on.
Here are a few images from the hem-attaching process, in case anyone's inspired to try the same modification.
I first knit the two vertical bands a few extra inches beyond the length of the st st body. My cabled bands are about three inches wide so I knew that would be how much extra length the cabled horizontal hem would add. I picked up and knit 12 sts along the edge of the extended vertical band, then kfb into each st on the way back and also added an extra selvedge stitch to use to attach the horizontal cable hem to the body later. So with 25 stitches, I worked the triple cable, leaving that selvedge st in stockinette, until I had enough length to match up with the body width. This took awhile, since I was just working the cable and nothing else. I blocked the entire thing to see what would happen with the cable, and I was glad, because it really stretched out lengthwise when wet blocked.
Eventually I felt I had about the right length, and I set about attached it to the live body stitches. That didn't worked well, and I was nervous about the stability of the lower hem, so I ended up binding off the stockinette body stitches and then attaching the cabled hem to the BO sts.
I worked under two strands of the cabled selvedge, and under two BO stitches at a time. I used safety pins to line up the hem with the body at six inch intervals, so I could try to make sure I was using enough of the cabled hem to match up with the body.
It was a bit fiddly, but I'm pretty pleased with the result.
She is sans buttons for now, but I'll probably wear the sweater with something stuck through the front until I can find bigger buttons. I had a couple I thought might work but the wool is so sturdy and substantial that I think I'll keep looking for bigger ones. I also haven't sewn in any hook and eye closures, as I'm not sure I'll want them once there are buttons on.
Here are a few images from the hem-attaching process, in case anyone's inspired to try the same modification.
I first knit the two vertical bands a few extra inches beyond the length of the st st body. My cabled bands are about three inches wide so I knew that would be how much extra length the cabled horizontal hem would add. I picked up and knit 12 sts along the edge of the extended vertical band, then kfb into each st on the way back and also added an extra selvedge stitch to use to attach the horizontal cable hem to the body later. So with 25 stitches, I worked the triple cable, leaving that selvedge st in stockinette, until I had enough length to match up with the body width. This took awhile, since I was just working the cable and nothing else. I blocked the entire thing to see what would happen with the cable, and I was glad, because it really stretched out lengthwise when wet blocked.
Eventually I felt I had about the right length, and I set about attached it to the live body stitches. That didn't worked well, and I was nervous about the stability of the lower hem, so I ended up binding off the stockinette body stitches and then attaching the cabled hem to the BO sts.
I worked under two strands of the cabled selvedge, and under two BO stitches at a time. I used safety pins to line up the hem with the body at six inch intervals, so I could try to make sure I was using enough of the cabled hem to match up with the body.
It was a bit fiddly, but I'm pretty pleased with the result.
LOVE your mod. yay! now we have (another set of) matching sweaters!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! Can't wait to see it in person.
ReplyDeleteIt's just gorgeous! The bottom band really gives the sweater a more substantial frame. Looks very nice.
ReplyDeleteWell done! I enjoy knitting on cabled hems, but as you noted they don't add a lot of stability. I think your sewn-on cable hem looks very well done, your stitching is very neat!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely comments, friends!
ReplyDeleteI've had my eyes on this pattern for a while now. A wonderful modification. Love it.
ReplyDeleteIt looks great! The extra time for the bottom cable was worth it!
ReplyDelete