Shortening Knitted Garments Made Simple
Follow these easy steps to shorten your knitted garments
Do some newly knitted garments have sleeves fit for an orangutan? Don't feel bad - everyone's been there. But instead of tossing it into the rag bag -- because after all, you can't give it away. Who has arms that long? Instead, try these simple steps to shorten that sweater.
Shortening knitted garments
It happens to all of us at one time or another. Lose count while knitting and end up with hopelessly long sleeves on your new sweater. One of the first challenges for knitting beginners is getting the fit right. "Orangutan" sleeves stumped me completely, and I just tossed it into the closet along with other unfinished projects.
Before you give up and decide the knitted garments are junk, give these instructions a try. They're really easy and worth the effort.
Shortening instructions
1. Use two knitting needles -- smaller than the ones used to knit the sweater.
2. Place a needle above and below the position you want to shorten in the garment. If the sleeves are two inches too long, the space between the needles should be two inches wide.
3. Cut the first stitch in the row just below the upper needle so that the stitches stay on the needle.
4. Pull out the first row of stitches using a tapestry needle.
5. Unravel the remaining rows down to the lower knitting needle.
6. Check the length of the garment to be sure when the second piece of the garment is rejoined, it will be the correct length.
7. Join the two pieces by grafting them together.
Now, there's a sweater that fits. And it wasn't even difficult. Dig into all kinds of knitting patterns that frightened you before because you were scared of the fit. With these instructions, worry no more about long knitted garments again.
