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. 
At 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. 
I 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. 
I 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.
Way more brave than I am! I might have cut off the bind off. You brazenly cut down to the body and call it fun? You are my hero!!
I tried cutting just the cast on first (the neck was the beginning) and it wouldn’t unravel from that direction, thus the big chop was required.
oh, Doh! I probably would have noticed that in either your post or the pictures if I hadn’t been so impressed by “the big chop!”
I’m looking forward to the new neckline. 🙂
Beautiful knit, can’t wait to see the finished sweater.
I’ve done that with a sweater before and it was so worth it!! Pays to be brave with our knitting 🙂 can’t wait to see the finished sweater!
I’m super new to knitting and your blog is so motivating! Beautiful work 🙂
Oh la la, you are brave to cut it off. Well done! The Oshima cowl is indeed beautiful, I’m sure it is going to look great on this sweater.
Ooh, so very brave to cut right through the knitting! For years I have been thinking about trying steeking to make a jumper but I can’t wrap my head around cutting into all that work. Perhaps this will give me to courage I lack. Looking forward to seeing the final result. Will be so worth it to have it fit right.
PS: love the hat you (someone?) is wearing in your blog header. I have that pattern in my Rav queue. Love it!
Yes, when I can’t unravel it I always resort to the scissors. Unfortunately, not all of my scissoring ends as nicely as yours.
Hi there, I don’t know whether you accept awards, but I nominated you in one
https://suddenlysonder.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/three-awards-in-one/
So brave, you are. Good idea to insert the needle first.
Just seeing scissors next to knitting gives me the heebie-jeebies. Glad everything turned out!
brave and humorous, too
Je suis impressionnée par la technique du col roulé ! Quel travail ! Très beau résultat.
I’ve cut through knitting a few times and even though I knew everything was *just fine* , I still held my breath while I was snipping!
Bravo to you! I appreciate that you cut it down to make it work instead of having it languish in your closet!
That’s my favorite way to deal with problems. I don’t understand why more knitters don’t do it. You can usually unravel the yarn after it’s been cut.
And for folks that fear cutting knits, why don’t you knit some big swatches and practice cutting or steeking on that first? It would be silly to cut your first steek into a sweater you’ve put a lot of time and energy into. You can practice as much as you want, until you feel confident, then tackle the real thing.
Hi everyone! This is such a beautiful pullover! I love the pattern and the colour! It’s great how you show how easily you can change the clothes you already have! Thank you for that!
If you want to check out the journey of a scarf we made have a look here:
https://pickedbychance.wordpress.com
amazing! I have yet to master a sweater but I’m not giving up, really want to have a comfy handknit by me sweater. Thanks for sharing 🙂