MEL MAKES STUFF: Special Episode - Finishing the Oak Cardigan by Marie Wallin 

Thank you so much! What a great idea for going back and looking at some older knits, I'll definitely keep that in mind!

❤️❤️❤️ thank you SO much, I appreciate that!!

Thanks sis ❤️

So glad you found me!!

Thanks so much, I can’t wait to show you how it turned out (spoiler alert - it fits 🎉)!

💚 thank you!!

Welcome Janet, I really appreciate the nice feedback!

Thank you!!!

Thank you! I did spend a good amount of time debating whether to re-knit the top of the body after I realized what had happened with the neckline, so in this instance I’m glad the gamble paid off.

Don’t be scared! Once you do it the first time you’ll be hooked. Cutting a swatch first helped me get over the fear 🥰

That’s great, I’ll be cheering you on once you decide to start yours! These feel like a huge undertaking at the beginning but then you just get in the groove 😊

@@melmakesstuff I find with colourwork that happens. Once get going, you just can't stop because you want to see the next row! I appreciate the support! I'll you know when I start ;)

It’s been a long time since I’ve made a set-in sleeve project and I can see a LOT more of them in my future now 😉

That’s a good call - I have seen a lot of seed stitch on her edgings!

Thank you! Bummer about your project, were you knitting the Oak pattern too, or a different one?

@@melmakesstuff no it is honeysuckle

Thank you!! That one is the Blueberry Pie pattern by Johanna Kunin 😊

So glad this helped! The sweater at 15min is the Sorrel by Wool & Pine, it’s a combo of blue shibui mohair and various hand dyed fingering weight yarns.

@@melmakesstuff Thank you!

Oh, also for finishing the cut steek I'm thinking of making a bobbin lace ribbon out of the same wool and attaching it instead of the herring bone stitch. If the bobbin lace ribbon is airy enough it shouldn't be adding bulk I think...

Glad you’re finding this helpful! If I’m correctly envisioning what you are asking, in this scenario I think you’d effectively just have a 5-stitch steek, and involving the steek in the body decreases like that could make it a little confusing to follow the original stitch counts in your pattern. In other words, I would do it again in the same way I did for the Oak if I was converting another cardigan with the angled fronts like this 😊. The flat pattern as written would be expecting you to pick up for the front bands one stitch into the body anyways, so that would cover up the decreases if you are doing them right at the edge (or right up against the steek in this scenario). For a cardigan with regular straight fronts, that’s when I would usually pick up right between the steek and body, but picking up right at the steek vs. one stitch into the body is not going to make much of a difference either way (especially at a fingering weight gauge).

And this bobbin lace idea sounds lovely, I’ve never seen this done but would love to know how it turns out - please report back!

@@melmakesstuff Thank you very much! Makes sense to me. :) I think I will follow your method for this since I do not yet have experience with picking up stitches on decreases around the steek (I only did straight edges so far). May I ask another question? I see that you have all the tails in the middle of the steek. Is there a reason why you were cutting the yarn at each color change? Does the finished project look neater this way? Because I always just drop one yarn and pick it up later when I need it again, without cutting it. I only have tails in the beginning and at the end.

@@melmakesstuff Will do! I've only done bobbin lace with cotton or linen threads so I am not even sure it will work with lace weight woolen yarn (it might rip every time i pull it around the pins). We'll see how it goes :)

Nope, no issues to this point and I’ve worn it a bunch!