Alterations, Wherein I disagree with Shakespeare

The bard said, "Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,"

Which, when speaking of love, is true, or ought to be true.  But when speaking of sweaters, sometimes, love alters.

My mom sent me home a few months ago with two of the vests I have made for her over the years.  She's lost some weight, and they really didn't fit any more.

And so:
Untitled
If that's not love, I don't know what is:  taking my scissors to Grant Avenue.

Parenthetically, the link to Grant Avenue shows a sweater that is much shorter (at least on the model) than the one I knit.  And is shorter than most of the ones on Ravelry.  And to the original in Pacific Coast Highway.  I'd swear I knit it as written.  Just for the record.   Also, if I need a little extra cash some day, it looks like rather than sell plasma, I'll sell my vintage Starmores.  And, again for the record, I'm not selling.

When I finished, I had this -
Untitled
(Sorry for the wonky picture).  I had to overlay the placket at the hem.  However, by doing this, I didn't have to re-knit them.

Which from the inside looks like this:
Untitled

Unfortunately,  I didn't take any pictures of the post-alteration try-ons, but both garments were about 4 inches smaller, and looked fine.

The other garment had side seams, so that was easier, both actually and psychologically.  It was an adaptation of the Navajo Pullover from Knitting in America (which was later reprinted as America Knits).  When it was new, it looked like this (the one on the left).
Navaho pullover vest 
(I'd knit my step-dad the actual Navajo pullover, which was always too warm, so I cut THAT down to a vest [thus my reputation as a knitwear alterations expert]).

And here is a "back-in-the-day" shot of Grant Avenue.

Marie in Grant Avenue

I'm sad to say I couldn't find a good link to the actual Navajo pullover sweater - the pictures on Ravelry are of my vest. Sadly, La Lana Wool has closed - sad for many reasons, but especially because the yarn was so fantastic. I used most of the leftovers of the hand-spun, hand-dyed colored yarns in hats in years past, but still have some of the machine-spun black left. The Hebridean yarn I used for Grant was a treat as well. Pulling out the leftovers to use, or have on hand, for these alterations was to remember some months of happy knitting.

And now, I hope my mom has some more years of happy wearing.

Comments

  1. Most excellent! The alterations are splendid -- and I'm sure your mom will be happy wearing her "new duds" for many years.

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