Monday, September 19, 2016

It's Back!

It's that time of the year to take stock of my supply of woollens, in preparation for the inevitable cool freezing weather ahead. As part of last year's inventory, I noticed that I really hadn't worn my "Wheatsheaves" cardigan as much as I thought I would. Why? It came down to fit, specifically the fit in the neck and shoulder area. The design is essentially a kimono shape. It has some back neck shaping in the body to help the shoulders sit where they're supposed to (as opposed to sliding backwards, a common problem with this silhouette), but the collar was never quite right. Last winter I withdrew it from my Ravelry shop for editing, but it's only recently that I've got around to dealing with it. Surprisingly, the solution was simple. It involved only the re-working of the collar, with some carefully placed decreasing. I'm so pleased with the result.
The pattern is back up on Ravelry, and I'm working on a glitch in getting the updated version (along with notifications) out to prior purchasers. If you've already made one of these and would like to make it better, all you will need to do (once you receive the update) is to frog the old collar back to the pick-up row, wash the frogged wool to get out the kinks, and re-knit the collar following the new instructions. The new version actually takes slightly less wool than the old, so you shouldn't have to worry about running out. Of course, if you have a leftover skein you could also use that. I really love this design and can't wait for some cool weather so I can enjoy wearing it.
P.S. Reporting back same evening: the brilliant Ravelry folks have solved the glitch and updates have already been sent out.
P.P.S. Frostfern is next up for the same treatment. Stay tuned...