The old switcheroo

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Véronik Avery rescued me. I was all torn up, trying to decide between ripping the back of the sweater for a do over and trying to learn to live with imperfection in my knitting. (I accept it in humans, it’s in yarn that I am inflexible.) I was reading the comments from people like Karen (who wrote a brilliant Shakespearean “To rip or not to rip” and Dez (who corrected a pretty significant error in the universe by re-writing the Devo song “Whip it” into “Rip it”) who urged me to not fight the person I am… and I knew it too. I knew that as much as I didn’t want to rip it back, I would have to. I knew that having shoulder seams like this

Notamatch0605

would make me nuts. I knew it would be all I could see in the sweater and I knew that considering that my time and yarn is worth something, that I shouldn’t let myself down that way. I knew it needed to be ripped, but I was still trying to find a way out. I kept looking at the cast on edge, wishing that there was something I could do about it, so I could just flip the damn piece over…but my fountain of inspiration was empty. (There is also the fact that all I did was sit and stare at it, drinking coffee morosely instead of hitting a couple of reference books or trying some stuff out on a swatch, but I was pouting, and that’s quite time consuming.) That’s when I get an email from Véronik, with the appealing subject line of “Don’t Rip!” or something equally attention grabbing. Véronik, who understands things like why cast-on edges and seams need to match or madness will ensue, suggested the following.

1. Unpick the cast on edge. This is fiddly and annoying, especially with a sticky yarn like this one. I amused myself with I picked away at it. (Psst. KT? The scotch you gave me finally came in handy.)

Unpickingacast0605

2. Flip the piece over, making the front the back and all the knits – purls.

3. Use Montse Stanley‘s “stem stitch bind-off” with my new right side facing,

Stemstbind0506

and create a new edge that looks just exactly like the long-tail cast on edge I had before.

Totallytheedge0605

Problem solved – No ripping. Véronik, quand je viens à Montréal, Je vous dois une bière!

The sock gets around

My efforts to show Virginia‘s sock yarn the best possible time continue apace. This weekend I got dancer/choreographer Mojo on it….

Andrea0605

That’s the lovely Andrea Nann, seen looking not at all exhausted after opening night of “The Whole Shebang” . (That’s Josh Finlayson being all quick in the back there. ) I had a very lovely time and everything was beautiful and I managed to hang out with all of the people Joe knows without making a fool of myself, though I did eat an improper number of potstickers at the reception. (I am unclear about what the proper number may be, but I know that I exceeded it.) In case the sock was not impressed enough, Suzie Ungerleider (Oh Susanna)

Suziesock0605

took a quick turn. She has a new album just out. (Joe did some of the recording for it.) Impressed? I was, but the sock is getting harder to impress. (The best part of the evening was watching Joe try to explain the sock. Me, I don’t. I just ask them to hold it.)

99 thoughts on “The old switcheroo”

  2. well, thank goodness for that. i’m so happy to hear that you didn’t have to redo it. congratulations on almost finishing your sweater, i can’t wait to see it!

  3. Veronik slays me with her genious…yet again! I’m so glad you found a satisfying solution which did not involve ripping the whole thing out. It’s amazing, that bind off really does look just like a long tail cast on. I’ll be marveling over that the rest of the day.

  5. You continually amaze me! I don’t believe I would have the nerve to pick out my cast on edge. I love that you share these adventures with us. Because of you I know there is hope when it comes to knitting mishaps. Hats off to Veronik for her saving suggestion and to you for the guts to perform it.

  6. I think a Knitting Hall of Fame should be established so Veronik can be inducted. And we should call to find out if a Nobel Peace prize is available.

  9. Not only are you knitting-cool, you are outing-cool too. Oh Susanna? Who’s next to hold the sock, the entire membership of Blue Rodeo???
    Oh, and of course, yay for Veronik!!! Glad you dodged that bullet.

  11. Cool.
    I’ll have to dig out Montse later today, swatch, and try that out. Or maybe I’ll actually pack for my trip. Nah.
    I haven’t yet come to the point of picking out and knitting down a cast-on, but it’s only a matter of time. I have a UFO with a too tight cast-on that may be a candidate.
    Thanks to Veronik for the idea and to you for the illustration.

  12. I am glad you saved the sweater. What will the sock do now? It has seen so much, there must be nothing left that is cool. *wink*

  13. What a wonderful solution! This is what I love about knitting (well, one of the things I love about knitting) and the online community. There are so many creative ways to address problems and having the ability to pick other people’s brains gives you a much greater chance of finding a solution that you like. (A bit of a disclaimer: while it would have bugged me, I’m pretty sure I would not have had the heart to rip out that much knitting…. ah, well, I guess I’m no perfectionist.)

  15. Veronik – very impressive save! And I don’t think I have every seen the sock held in a more stylish fashion than with Suzie Ungerleider. Yours is a world of clever women. Cheers!

  16. I’ve seen my mother-in-law pick out cast-on edges and it made me queasy, but she’d been knitting since she was a little girl in Donegal and does it with great ease. I would never even have thought to do that! Congratulations.

  21. Veronik is an angel. And once again, Montse Stanley’s book proves that it has a solution to every imaginable knitting problem.

  22. The great tool of the internet shows it’s worth again, we ask for & help/advice/comfort & it arrives, alas it’s limitations are also shown, Veronik has to wait on that beer!

  23. (I neither read nor speak French so as far as I know, this may be what you said to Veronik.) I hereby nominate — or whatever it is that Catholics do — Veronik for sainthood. That is one heck of a save. The real proof is how obvious it is once it is pointed out. All the pure genius ideas are like that.

  24. The improper number of potstickers… full + 20. I try to keep myself to full +10. They’re so good, who can blame you for over indulging?
    Thanks for sharing the brilliance of Veronik. I’m sure many many many of your readers will at some point share your experience, and you’ve saved us from having to enter the grieving stages.

  26. You are going to have one uppity sock if you keep going at this pace. Perhaps the sock needs to see some housework/yardwork or the grocery store instead of so many fabulous nights out? What will happen to it when you finally have a pair? Do your well-travelled socks spend all of their time in your sock drawer boasting about their escapades? I bet it gets a bit rowdy in there. Perhaps there have been some unexplained holes in some lately?

  27. Great save on your sweater. If you do a *German twisted *long tail cast on and the sewn bind off your REALLY can’t tell which is the cast on and which is the bind off edge. Be sure and mark the right side after the cast on because you can’t tell by looking at the edge. Montse Stanley has the cast on in her great book.

  28. Glad it all worked out in the end! I hate ripping and I do it all the time. Kills me when I think of what I could have done with all that time.
    Oh Susanna has a great voice! I have a bootleg copy of a radio show she did with Fred Eaglesmith, it’s great.
    Signed, one really big Fred fan who likes other singers he hangs out with too.

  31. I too, nominate Veronik for Knitting Sainthood! No ripping, just a smidge. With genuine contentment. Nice save for both the Juno, and the Harlot’s sanity and serenity!!!
    Veronik, Usted es una Mujere de loteria muy fantastica!
    ( No hablo Frances, solamente un poquito de espanol…y mi espanol…no es muy bien)

  32. St. Veronik! I think a Knitters hall of fame is indeed a good idea.
    I admit, I cannot understand the finer points of the instructions for repair, but am totally in awe.
    I found a copy of Rowan 40 at my local Harmony Yarns. I went straight to Juno and tried to understand the directions. You see, I too want Juno…I even found a terrific yarn that will work. Unfortunately, I cannot understand the directions. What are the instructions in the brackets? I am barely and intermediate knitter despite my learning to knit at age 9. These have me dizzy already. I printed off the corrections thinking they will help…No, I just dont get it.
    I will need the help of a much more savy knitter than myself.
    I have the yarn and I have the book though….Wills and Ways….Wills and Ways…

  33. Three cheers for Véronik! She just might be a genius. The new edge looks beautiful.
    Now I must get busy trying valiantly to clear up my schedule so I can see you in Petaluma, CA on June 7. I wonder if people will be leave I have an “important meeting” that day and let me me out of my other commitments.

  35. Way to sell Andrea short, dude. I just don’t think that “lovely” is a strong enough word to describe her, really. “The most beautiful woman in the universe” comes a little closer, I think, but one might have to see her in motion to fully apprehend that.
    If she has this impact on me, I can only imagine how straight men must feel about her…

  36. God Bless Véronik. I’ve said that before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again.
    Your sock is turning into such a groupie, I’m terribly jealous it’s been fondled by Oh Susanna.

  37. It’s going to be lovely–how do you plan to block it? I just finished knitting a short-sleeved cardi of Natural Silk Aran out of Rowan’s Classic Coast book. I handwashed it and it is out on a towel drying, but I think I’m going to have to try again–it’s a 2×2 rib and it really wants to stretch out and lose all of its ribbing elasticity. I had to sort of ‘bunch’ it. It occurs to me that I’ve never blocked a ribbed garment before. I welcome any suggestions as I’d love to actually be able to wear it!

  38. It’s going to be lovely–how do you plan to block it? I just finished knitting a short-sleeved cardi of Natural Silk Aran out of Rowan’s Classic Coast book. I handwashed it and it is out on a towel drying, but I think I’m going to have to try again–it’s a 2×2 rib and it really wants to stretch out and lose all of its ribbing elasticity. I had to sort of ‘bunch’ it. It occurs to me that I’ve never blocked a ribbed garment before. I welcome any suggestions as I’d love to actually be able to wear it!

  40. Glad you were able to fix the problem, without too much trouble. You’re braver than I am. I have ripped it out and stuffed it all into a bag in the back of the closet, and done my best to forget about it. Can’t wait to see BPT and your finished sweater.

  41. Wow! I’m in your post. I feel like a celebrity!
    Seriously, though — GREAT save, and, as always, merci encore, Montse (et Veronik aussi).
    I would have considered suggesting unpicking the bottoms of the back and both fronts, and just casting off, but I was slightly concerned about being smacked with a #3 DPN.

  42. Dude, my memory totally sucks. Those Devo flowerpot hats were RED, not yellow.
    Maybe yesterday, I was thinking of the B-52’s hair?

  43. Véronik Avery is a genius! Great save! Whew! Also glad you embraced yourself and wouldn’t accept those seams. I couldn’t see you doing it.
    Oh poor Joe… you mean he can’t just say, “This is my wife, The Yarn Harlot. Please hold the sock.” I thought that would explain everything!

  44. Wow! Perfect and lovely — I will have to remember that for my future disaster(s).

  45. Beautifully elegant solution! Veronik is clearly a knitting genius (not just in this case either). Glad it worked out.

  46. Positively brilliant! I was just thinking about trying some cuff-down socks with a provisional cast on – to prevent the too-tight-top syndrome. Now I know what to finish that top edge with! I have tried toe-up socks, which are also fun, but it means you have to do all that thinking right at the beginning.
    Looks like the sock is having fun. I am sure that any and all experiences and introductions are being religiously recorded in its blog (now if we only knew the URL so we could find out what it is really thinking!). You are brave and charming for showing it such a good time.
    Knit in peace,
    Karen

  47. Oh dear. Véronik has a website. And a book. I’m seriously in trouble. Loved her Dollar and a Half, and have shamelessly started Notre Dame de Grace even though I’m not supposed to be knitting at all. Oh dear.

  48. Simply put, Véronik is a Goddess!!!! What a good trick to remember. Glad the sock is entertained, but you keep upping expectations…”How you gonna keep it down on the farm, after it’s seen Paris?”

  50. That sock is a tough one to impress! Before you know it the sock will be a total scenester.
    Thanks for sharing the solution. Yea for Veronik and for not having to rip!!!

  52. Genius! I wish my brain cells could wrap around concepts like that, but I’ll have to settle for being able to follow the lead of designers like Veronik (sorry, don’t know how to add the accent). You know she’ll never steer you wrong. And then there’s the wonderful response in her IK winter ’05 interview: “What is most interesting to you about designing a knitted garment?” “The person inside it.” That makes two reasons why I look for her designs first in any new knitting publication.
    So glad the sock is exposed to various cultural activities, but take care not to let it take them for granted!

  53. I don’t think there is such a thing as an improper number of potstickers. At least, there shouldn’t be, they taste far too good.

  54. Glad it worked out, but I’m still wondering about the big pink thing. (That sounds terribly selfish, doesn’t it?)

  55. Wonderful! I’m so glad the shortcut worked! It would’ve been pretty disheartening to pull out the whole back. Good luck finishing it error-free.

  56. Not so many years ago, an elderly friend asked me if I would finish the pink mohair sweater she had started in the late 60s. Never mind that it would no longer fit her nor would it be wearable if she did, she wanted it done. When I asked her why she hadn’t finished it she said there wasn’t enough yarn. Naturally, I asked why she thought I could finish it under those circumstances. Her answer? “You’re so clever and you knit so fast”. Hoo boy! Yes, I did it with a contrasting yarn for the cuffs and collar. Sheesh – never again.

  58. Woo-hoo!!! You saved it. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and all that-I am so pleased for you! That’s the beauty of this knitting universe-there is some solution and it is shared so generously. I would have ripped but it would have set me back eons since I am MUCH slower than you. I also would have looked for some way to cheat. Then again I do have to do things like sit on a tractor and mow pastures for my horses and sheep(there could be a fleece in it for you-check us out a caredsheep.com). My hat off to Dez-absolutely brilliant take on Devo(and sad to say I remember that song when it was in the top 40).

  60. ok, this question might reveal me to be a hopeless outsider in the circle of all things harlot……… but, why is the traveling sock ALWAYS green?????

  61. Your sweater looks great and congrats on the nifty fix! Glad the scotch was a handy knitting tool. Always happy to help in any way I can.

  62. Blessed be Veronik!
    And as to meeting famous people, and handing them a sock.. you are so totally cool, they would walk away thinking that they ‘should’ know what this was all about, and politely, would not ask… too funny.
    Hat’s off to you Stephanie – the rest of us would just stand and be silent in front of all the famous folk 🙂

  63. What you did to fix the seams is way above my level, but I’m impressed in a novice knitter sort of way. I must say though that I’m almost as impressed by the sock’s mingling with the creme de la creme of Canadian sockciety and will be keeping my wool socks away from my computer screen, lest they get ideas. Will the sock and its mate ever get finished or would that be a career-ending move for them?
    Cheers,
    Lill

  64. De-lurking to tell you I got your book this weekend and it is wonderful. I think this book should be mandatory reading for all of those husbands and boyfriends and such who do not understand that we live in Knitting Land.
    Also, I cannot wait to see the Big Pink Thing!

  65. Congratulations on performing a Back Flip! (Now there’s an event for the next Knitting Olympics, eh?)
    You know, I think my bind-offs always look much better than my cast-ons. Maybe I should be picking them out and binding them off?

  66. I’m not sophisticated enough to understand but I knit enough to recognize genuine Knitting Magic when I see it! Veronik? A name new to me, but I now have things to look up. Got to the Yarnery this weekend – and they had a signed copy of your book for me! MERCI BEAUCOUP for signing a few copies for we sad, dismal folks who couldn’t make it to see you there! (I bought also a pattern, a booklet, some yarn…when my DH gets the card statement may I please come sleep in your garage?)

  67. That is a very clever fix! I thought I would tell you that thanks to you, I have a new yarn obsession. Blue Moon sock yarn– Socks that Rock! Not that it takes much to hook me with a new yarn with great color.

  68. Well phew! Thank goodness you didn’t have to frog it. I have great sympathy with (a) the plight and (b) the scotch having spent Saturday faithfully following a pattern to knit a border on a baby blanket only to look at it late Saturday night, realise it had too many stitches and was far too frilly and rip the whole border whilst my husband plied me with cider – fingers crossed for the rest of your pattern!

  69. (So I email you back, then much later automatically drop by even though the back of my brain is thinking you wouldn’t have posted on a weekend… And voila, you *had*. Um, just disregard that little note about waiting w/bated breath for Monday to see if you were able to make a decision, ok? LOL.)
    Brava Veronik! Brava Yarn Harlot! Brava Juno, unmatched no more, now to be matchless! Let’s hear it for KT’s Scotch, too. 😉 And I am so finally giving in and buying Montse Stanley’s book. I’ve put it off far too long. I just hadda get these books by a certain blogger first, see?
    I also think everyone who might have hopes of fondling the traveling sock in future should closely study Andrea Nann’s incomparable example of holding it – a presentation and making an offering in one. Makes sense that a dancer would understand the proper reverence to be given to a sock…

  70. Far freakin’ out. I was in tears thinking how I would feel if I had to pull all that knitting out. That save is a pretty cool idea. I vote she gets the Nobel Prize as well.

  71. It’s Monday! It’s Monday! Happy “fullness of time” Monday!
    (Yes- I’m always this annoying in the morning)
    Potstickers. Yum. Now, I want potstickers for breakfast.

  72. I would guess that the inappropiate number of potstickers is equal is the inappropiate number of oysters (Sock Camp buffet). So, in my mind… that is about 30?
    Cool fix on the sweater.

  73. See? SEE? I’m telling you, the sock thing is really cool.
    As for potstickers, we have the best chinese restaurant in the midwest (at least) here in town. He only makes potstickers once a year, though, when the chives are exactly right. He says they’re really labor intensive. We’ve volunteered to have a staff meeting at the restaurant to help him make them.
    Soon, he says.
    I can’t wait.

  75. I had to read this over 3 or 4 times to finally understand that you had simply made the back the front. You have amazing friends.

  76. Hurray for a brilliant save. Blessings to Ste. Véronik for her genius. Apologies to you for screaming “Rip it” with the horde.
    Now I must go and finish tinking back my lace sock. *Sigh*

  78. Yes, sainthood, or at least a very nice and loud thank you, for Veronik. I’ve missed part of this story, shall have to read back posts, for what I’m sure is a very interesting story.
    The first thing I learned from you was that there are all these wonderful yarns I’d never heard of. Then patterns. Then techniques. Now my musical horizons are being widened . . . I thank you, but my visa begs for a rest!

  79. Yay, the sweater worked out! I’m glad you didn’t have to reknit *shudder* An uppity sock? Obviously, you work too hard at showing it a good time =)

  80. We have more of the Rowan Tweed in your dye lot. We’ll put some back for you, so you can knit on without fear of running out. It is lookin’ so good.

  81. Congrats on the sweater! That has saved you so much time and heartbreak!
    I do believe the sock is getting an ego.
    P.S. It’s Monday. What’s up with the BPT? I’ve got 5 to 1 odds here. Hurry up with the reveal already! 😉

  82. That is the problem with finger food. You don’t quite know what the proper number to eat is but you sure know when you have crossed the line. Actually you usually know the minute the last one is popped in you mouth. oops.

  87. Sorry must be missing something. Don’t undertsand what the point was of unpicking the cast on edge then flipping over the piece. Surely it won’t match up if it’s flipped over?!

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