I finally got up my nerve to cut the steek for this sweater. To say it was a mess is putting it mildly. And if the yarn had been superwash or non-wool, I think it would have completely fallen apart, even with the reinforcement sewing that I had done. As it was, some of the stitches were definitely precarious. My cutting wasn’t super great, even with magnifiers and care, and I caught more than the intended stitch as I clipped.
Of course, that was so nerve wracking that I immediately put it back in the bag to let it rest a bit longer.
So I got up my nerve once again to face it, and began picking up stitches for the button bands. The ends of the bands are where the worst fraying was happening. I couldn’t get a good pickup at the very edges, but I forged ahead, taking as much care as I could.
When I finished, I decided that I will only be buttoning the top and leaving the rest of it open. I found two pansy buttons in the size the pattern called for and attached those. I definitely didn’t like how the buttonholes were formed, and if I use a pattern that calls for making buttonholes in the same manner, I’ll use a different method the next time.
I bought some woven ribbon to sew to the back sides over the cut and frayed stitches. I bought a yard at first (duh, should have measured), thinking that 18 inches on each side would be plenty. And it may even have been enough before I washed and blocked it, but afterward, nope. I went back and bought two yards (because I’d already cut the one yard into halves), and I’m waiting for that to arrive. No one will likely ever see it but me, but it’s one of those nice little fancy things that I’ll have and be able to treasure (a Tula Pink ribbon).
