It has been a bit of a journey finding replacement yarn for my Halloween Cats sweater. As mentioned in my last post, a couple of the accent colors were too similar in value to the main color for the sweater, so the the colorwork was not working. So first I ordered what looked like a lighter green and orange from the same yarn line and then waited for them to show up.


Still way too close, and also what looked like orange in the photos is really more of a gold. So the next step was to take some of the lilac yarn and just go to a local yarn store and figure something out. I wound up at Fibre of earlier post fame. They didn’t have much in sport weight, but did have a ton of fingering, which of course you can just hold double.


Sold! I went with a lighter orange and a deeper green than previously. For the pattern I had already knitted, I just duplicate stitched over what was already there. It’s the lazier option, but I am OK with that.


The lighter orange still doesn’t have that much contrast, but I think it pops against the background enough that it works. So anyway, back to working on the yoke!
This also shows another alteration I made – at the center of the back, I reverse the direction the cats are facing so that they are facing toward each other at the front center. The striped section in the middle is where I will cut the steek, so that’s not going to be there when it’s done.
What do you usually do when you get pretty far along in a pattern and decide you want to change something? Rip it and redo, fake it over (like I just did here), or decide to just leave it as is?
I tend to rip and redo, though I take it case by case. Some days I feel more accepting than others!
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That is a good balanced approach!
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That looks great! I would probably rip it out and redo it, at this stage, anyway. If the sweater were finished (or nearly) I might take it.
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Thank you!
Case by case is a good way to handle it π
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Your sweater’s coming along nicely. I generally rip back when I want to change something. Sometimes I just complete the object and donate it to a charity. Mostly, I try to make enough test swatches that I can avoid a mid-knit crisis.
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True – swatching ahead of time saves a lot of trouble!
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Unfortunately I’m always tempted to toss everything and start over! Nice save!
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If I hate everything about a project, that’s generally what I will do too π
Thanks!
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I am generally not a fan of duplicate stitch, so if that is the fake involved I will usually rip and re-do. However, it does depend on how much ripping back there is. At the point you were, I would have re-done (to avoid the duplicate stitch) but if there had been much more progress I would have just given in and faked it. π
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π I get that! It was still kind of a lot of duplicate stitch. But I don’t really mind it, so it worked out.
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Then it’s all good! I don’t really understand why I don’t like duplicate stitch since I do enjoy cross stitch, but there you are. π€·π»ββοΈ
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Definitely! Some things just don’t appeal. I get that for sure.
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I have struggled with color decisions so many times! I am torn between subtle and crisp contrast, and then I mess up and get a knit with a combination of the two. I like what you ended up with and the sweater looks so cute!
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Thank you!
It is definitely a struggle! And sometimes there are surprising limitations as to what yarn is available, which doesn’t help the situation.
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Iβm a ripper! Mostly. But right now Iβm resisting that, because I donβt want to start this shawl all over again. Itβs not important for this piece; everything is fine, itβs just an aesthetic option for something. Nope! The finish line is in sight!
I love that you mirrored the cats. I would have, too!
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There are a lot of factors in the decision to rip or not, I think π
Thanks! I’m happy with how the cats look!
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I hate ripping out so try to fix after the fact mostly.
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That’s my usual plan π
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I always seem to make a mistake in sizing so I have to rip it all out and start again. Thankfully yours was a bit easier to fix!
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Yes! purely cosmetic change
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And I looove the new green
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Thank you! I like it too π
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That lighter orange and deeper green are awesome! It’s going to be a very cool and Halloween festive sweater!
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Thank you!!
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