Laura Chau Designs

whaaaat

So there I was, binding off the buttonband on my grandpa’s Christmas-gift vest, looking forward to starting (and finishing) the armhole bands when I decided to lay it out…

whaaaaat

And saw that I’d somehow completely twisted one front when I attached it to the shoulder. And picked up and knit the entire buttonband with it twisted like that.

Of course, it was late when I noticed, and I was rather angry at myself for making such a stupid mistake, so I had to fix it right then (although I considered just tossing the whole project!). I ripped out the buttonband, but then when I tried to take out the shoulder seam…I couldn’t find the end. In a moment of weakness I took out the scissors and…

…I cut my knitting, but in the wrong place. Of course. Eventually I did find the seam, took it out, reknit the shoulder which now had a hole in it, sewed the shoulder back together properly, and picked up the button band again. Now I’m almost done the second armhole band, then it’s onto blocking and all that stuff.

Take this as a lesson, folks – don’t just keep your knitting all balled up on your lap.

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33 responses to “whaaaat”

  1. Renee Avatar
    Renee

    Hi,
    I have been a follower of your blog for some time, but just never got around to commenting. I do love your work, and one day I dream of being as talented a knitter as you. But this post did make me laugh. It brings me back to my first pair of gloves I ever knitted, and I got to the last finger, the little finger, knitted it all up and cast off. Only to find I had completely twisted my knitting and the finger was on the wrong side of the side seam….. oh well, I guess we all have to learn a hard lesson sometimes. :)

    Reply
  2. yarnpiggy Avatar
    yarnpiggy

    I so totally would have thrown the whole thing away. And that is why I am not yet a “real” knitter. Working on it! :-)

    Reply
  3. fleur Avatar
    fleur

    Oh I am really sorry for you, but hopefully you’ll get it fixed!!

    Reply
  4. Francois Avatar
    Francois

    You’ve invented the Mobeius Vest! Not much demand for the pattern I fear.

    Reply
  5. Katya Avatar
    Katya

    This is so funny! lol I’ve made the same mistake just 2 weeks ago on the vest I made for myself, except that I finished not just the button band but the armhole ribbing as well and wove in the ends before realizing that I made a mistake. Urgh!

    Reply
  6. Rebekkah Avatar
    Rebekkah

    Oh dear!

    I admit that I once did the same exact shoulder seam thing, but there was no button band involved, so it wasn’t quite the same disaster as this.

    I admit, your pain makes my borked up sock toe seem a lot less bad now. (I took someone’s advice to kitchener really loosely, than go back and tighten it up. Even though my own method works just fine, and there was no need to change it. Tightening up kitchener does not work well with a very splitty yarn, when you split the yarn and try to only tighten 3 of the 4 plies, and then cause a big mess, and up with a huge lump. Gonna cut off the tip of that toe, and just kitchener it MY way!)

    Reply
  7. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    OMG! I think I would have cried. I’m sure you were able to make it look perfect. Thanks for the tip.

    Reply
  8. JenBrenneman Avatar
    JenBrenneman

    Oh man. This sounds like something the yarn harlot would do. Though it happens to the best of us. Good luck, I know you’ll get it done and it will look beautiful.

    Reply
  9. Knittripps Avatar
    Knittripps

    Oh boy, that must have been really frustrating. It is a beautiful vest and I am sure your grandpa will love it.

    Reply
  10. cici Avatar
    cici

    bummer…. sorry about that!

    Reply
  11. Whistlepea Avatar
    Whistlepea

    This is so weird. I did a very, very similar thing just the other day. http://whistlepeaknits.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/she-flew-too-close-to-the-sun/

    Reply
  12. Katie Avatar
    Katie

    That really stinks, but what patience you have. I think I would have just tossed that part and started it over again! Good job!

    Reply
  13. Lydia / Windandsea Avatar
    Lydia / Windandsea

    Oh my gosh…I think I would have had to put it away out of sight for months before summoning the reserves to deal with that. I salute your fortitude – you rock!

    Reply
  14. gleek Avatar
    gleek

    omg, you poor thing! i would have cried :(

    Reply
  15. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    You should have heard me gasp when I read your post! What a nightmare, especially when you were almost finished with the vest! But I’m sure it’ll turn out great in the end. Happy holidays!

    Reply
  16. Renee Avatar
    Renee

    Remember that we advanced knitters need to make these mistakes so that beginners know that it happens to all of us. Recently I knit the yoke of a sweater 3 times!

    Reply
  17. Wendolene Avatar
    Wendolene

    Ack! I can totally see myself doing something like that. Ten points for not throwing it at the wall and doing something else : )

    Reply
  18. kv Avatar
    kv

    and you sound so calm about it all!!! all’s well that ends well. happy holidays!

    Reply
  19. ivete Avatar
    ivete

    Oh no! I hate doing dumb things like that! I actually did pretty much this exact thing once and what I did to save myself from reknitting the band was to snip the pick up row and unravel it around the twisted area of the sweater, then put those live stitches on a holder while I fixed the body of the sweater. Then using a sewing needle I “kitchenered” the band back onto the sweater body, sewing the picked up stitches back in where they were before. I’m sure this will make almost no sense to most people, but after going through this I think you’ll know what I’m trying to say! Maybe you can use my trick if this ever (horrors!) happens again!

    Reply
  20. Lisa Avatar
    Lisa

    I can so relate to your ordeal. I just finished a sweater that had me knitting and ripping the button bands at LEAST three times, not counting the times I’d start, see it wasn’t working (trying to match up colorwork on either side), and having to rip part way. Seriously, they were the button bands from hell. They are still not perfect, but they are as close as they are ever going to get and I am so done with that sweater! LOL (And yes, I was doing much of this late at ngiht…never a good thing.)

    Reply
  21. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Horrors!

    Reply
  22. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    Oh Good Lord. I feel your pain!!!!!

    Reply
  23. Maryse Avatar
    Maryse

    I think that knitting requires a lot of patience (and some of my friends will say that to me often when they see my projects). I’m slowly learning too that making mistakes and having to undo a lot of work is part of it. I’m currently knitting Thermal. And last year, while using a stich holder that does not really hold stiches!, I lost a lot of them without noticing for a while… I thought I would loose my mind… really… ;-) FYI, I sew the first sleeve today. Have to knit the other one and it will be almost done!

    Reply
  24. Kala Avatar
    Kala

    oooh, ouch!

    Reply
  25. Cirilia Avatar
    Cirilia

    Yikes! This sort of thing is totally upsetting, I know from scarring experience:

    http://skrillaknits.blogspot.com/2007/09/ugh.html

    Maggie Rhigetti says you should “stop and admire your work often,” so that these little things can be noticed before it’s practically an FO. Rhigetti rules!

    Reply
  26. Seanna Lea Avatar
    Seanna Lea

    Ouch. I was working on a pair of socks and realized that I had managed to drop a stitch in the decrease section of the toe. I grumbled (and was on deadline), and had to explain to my hubby that I just needed peace and quiet to go and fix it. Your mistake was more aggravating than mine certainly, but I’m glad you managed to fix yours (and am happy that mine is done as well).

    Reply
  27. Suzanne V. (Yarnhog) Avatar
    Suzanne V. (Yarnhog)

    Bwahahahaha!

    I’ve so totally done that!

    Reply
  28. Cobbalicious Avatar
    Cobbalicious

    So grateful to hear that the truly accomplished knitters out there make some, ah, phenomenal mistakes, too! :)

    Reply
  29. TracyKM Avatar
    TracyKM

    Oh man! I’ve had a few things where I’ve wanted to rip out a grafted seam and can’t find the end…I did manage to stop myself before cutting though. And recently (a couple posts down on my blog), I was finishing a large project and sewed the same shoulder seam the wrong way at least twice (I may have been so overwhelmed that I’ve blocked out some of the memory). Hope the rest of your finishing gets better :)

    Reply
  30. mizkathychin Avatar
    mizkathychin

    Wow you are a rock! If that had happened to me it would have been put away … then turned into a throw pillow.

    Reply
  31. Mel Avatar
    Mel

    Aaaah! I think I would cry. Good job actually trekking on with it, though.

    Reply
  32. VA Avatar
    VA

    oh my. i’m impressed you knit the entire button band without noticing. was that knitterly denial? the finished work though looks spectacular and you’ve mounted another herculean task!

    Reply
  33. pamma Avatar
    pamma

    oh pooh! i made a comment about this sweater under the wrong blog entry…oh well, my heart was in the right place…i just had my head up my bum!

    Reply

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