So as I mentioned, I've been knitting a sweater. Started on it right before surgery, and spent most of the day yesterday working on it. Knitting, knitting, knitting .. just finished the back and realized that it's too long. Way, way too long. I wanted it to hit the top of the hip, but it looks like it's going to hang down below the butt. D'oh! If I were sewing I would have known to shorten the pattern.
Do I have to rip out the entire thing and start over? arggh! Can I just rip out the bottom half and knit new ribbing onto the bottom, or will that throw off the proportions? This is the pattern.
I think I'm going to delay the problem and work on the sleeves while I figure it out.
i believe you can rip out just the bottom, it's just a total pain to get the loops back on to the needles after you've done so. best to do at a time when the mind is sharp and focused :)
i just realized that i answered your question without actually understanding it, and in a completely patronizing manner, for which i apologize. i'm sure that's exactly what you need while recovering.
i actually have no idea if you can take out just the bottom-- although you did say that you were going to make it more boxy, so if it's really just a straight rectangle, maybe you can.
It's possible to rip out and add ribbing again, or if you're feeling brave, you can cut the knitting and graft it together-- that might be tricky if the stitch count doesn't match up but you will feel like a knitting superstar if you make that work.
I think your "quickest" fix might be to rip off the extra fabric at the bottom and knit the ribbing onto that (and I second the notion that you should try this when you've got both time and concentration to spare) but it doesn't necessarily address the question of WHY the back came out so long.
I'd hate to think that you would be knitting along on your sleeves, in a perfectly logical attempt at constructively passing time until you can figure out the whole "too-long back" thing, only to have the sleeves come out all wonky too. Is your row gauge off? Maybe the sweater doesn't look "long" on the model because she's lanky and British. The truth is in the schematics.
It's harder to adjust these things when knitting instead of sewing, but in the end, I would say whatever you do to the back, write it down so you can remember to do it for the fronts as well!
Hi Karen! I think the problem was twofold: 1. I'm quite short (about 150 cm) and every pattern needs to be shortened; 2. it was the day after my surgery so I was doped to the gills and didn't remember that the pattern needed to be shortened.
For the fronts and the sleeves I measured a sweater that does fit and matched the length to that. I'm on the second sleeve now and I hope I can fix the back without having to redo the entire thing. If so then I'm almost done!