Well, well. I cast off Smithfield last night and as I feared a little bit during it’s creation, the collar was not as loose as I really wanted. I tried it on and wiggled it around a bit. I thought about seeing if a wet blocking made a difference, but I felt like it would continue to look like an Elizabethan collar no matter what I did…so today I cut it off. smithfield neckAt first I tried to undo the tubular cast on and thought I could just rip the thing out. It wasn’t really working and seemed like I would have to pick out each stitch by hand. So, I got impatient and got out the scissors to save time. smithfield neck-2I put the needle through a row below where I wanted to cut to give myself a guideline. Then I hacked into the thing and was able to unravel from the opposite end of the neck. It was kind of fun. smithfield neck-3I did have to pick out one row by hand but it’s all back to the point I want. I pondered just doing an inch or so of ribbing and calling it quits, but I love my Oshima more than any other sweater I’ve made, so I’m going to make the collar just like that one. The fisherman’s rib in Oshima is a bit of a style change from the granite stitch, but it seems they may be complimentary. We have some cold weather coming at the beginning of next week, which is motivating me to get this done over the weekend. We might finally get SNOW in Northwest Arkansas this year. Maybe.

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