When I posted about the finished jumper last week I mentioned that I wasn’t completely happy with the roll neck and was planning to knit a new piece and take the first attempt off.
For the second attempt I knitted a straight piece of ribbing, I had worked out that I needed approx. 144 stitches to get the width of neck I needed and knitted it 15cm deep. To check I was happy with the appearance I knitted the last row on to a circular needle which gave me the flexibility to wrap it around the neck on the dummy.
Then came the time consuming bit. I took off the original neck by cutting off the casting off row and unravelling, which was harder than expected and left me with lots of small bits of wool everywhere. I had to be careful and make sure I picked up all the live stitches that were at the centre front and centre back. I then had to graft the new piece on to the neckline which was still on the circular needle. It took me a while to work out the instructions for the grafting were the same as Kitchener stitch which is used for finishing off the toe when knitting socks.
That was fine for the stitches at the front and back but there were no instructions for when you are grafting with stitches on just one needle and a finished neckline but I managed to make something up that worked. Anyway, it took ages, I had to do it in two sittings. Once grafted all the way around I stitched up the seam on the neck piece and finished.
Last week when I put this garment on I wasn’t knocked out by it which was disappointing considering how long I’d spent knitting but I’m much happier with the look of the new neck and I’ve been wearing it over the last couple of days and I do really like it. It’s super comfy and really warm, I wore it out today in place of a coat. I really enjoyed knitting this but it was a real commitment! That was a quarter of year taken up with the making of one garment but it’s one garment I’ll probably still have in my wardrobe and wear when I am an old lady.
Now it’s done I’m going to think about sewing a few things.
cut it out, stitch it up! 
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
LOOKING GOOD—LOVE THAT SWEATER PATTERN!
Thank you! I’m really enjoying wearing it.
I love your new make. It is great that you are so happy with it too. Congratulations it is wonderful.
Teresa
Thanks, it’s been getting a lot of wear over the last few days. I’m itching for something else to knit but I think it will be a while before I take on such a time consuming pattern again!
Respect! That is so much work and dedication and re-done work. I love the look – it is exuberant in this super unusual colour Helen. It also looks great with your hair! I really want to make a Steve McQueen for myself or maybe for my son. I think it would be good fun to learn about cables and the other fancy stitches.
Although I sometimes feel a bit of “buyers remorse” myself, the knitted items get worn and worn because they are essentially the most practical and comfortable items in my wardrobe. Thank you for sharing the interesting story of this jumper.
Thanks! I’ve really enjoyed knitting this despite the length of time it took. I’ve also found I have a lot more patience than I used to and will happily undone something if not right. I don’t have much success knitting patterns with lace type designs but I enjoy cables as they are basically knit and purl stitches with the cable twists. I don’t think a cable jumper will ever be out of style so it would be worth the time investment.