Until last week. Enter my semi-secret baby sweater.
When I had finished the body of this little guy and had done up all the seams, I simply picked up all the stitches around the front, back, and arms, and did a few rows of 1x1 rib. When I had bound off, I realized I had a major problem -- there was no way a baby's head was going to fit through that tiny neck opening. Maybe a fetus', but not a baby's. I sat there and stared for awhile, thinking, "What if I pulled out a few rows and made a little u-neck, with the front and back both dipping down...that would certainly make the neck opening bigger...but how would I do that??......" That's when it hit me. SHORT ROWS!!! In less than a millisecond, it all became clear.
After placing the sleeve stitches on holders, I started with the front. I figured out how far down I wanted the lowest part of the collar to be, and figured it was five rows down. I ripped out those five rows. I then counted out seven stitches on each side (one stitch for seaming, one just because, and five to equal the number of rows I was going to rebuild, for an even slope up to the shoulder) and placed markers. Working each side separately, I did short rows (!), wrapping and turning closer and closer until my five rows had been worked. On the back, I did the same thing, only ripping down three rows and marking five stitches in. When all short-rowing was done, I knit all the way around the neck opening, picking up all front, arm, and back stitches, knit a few more rows, purled a row (for turning), knit a few more, and sewed down the live stitches a la Hourglass Sweater.
The result? A sweater with a neck opening that is both large enough and stretchy enough to fit an infant's head, and one very excited and newly-enlightened knitter.
P.S. Hooray for Barry Bonds!!!!!!
1 comment:
Wow! Hilary, the collar looks awesome and so cute! Thanks for the shout-out! hehe Believe me, I went through the same thing... Short rows make no sense until you need it for something ;D
Enjoy your vacation!
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