Lengthing Sweater Sleeves--10 Months Later

Dear Stuntmother,

You know the Cambridge Jacket (scroll down) I knit my DH for his birthday last March? Well, it fits wonderfully except for the sleeve length. You can't really see it in these photos, because his arms are extended pretty straight. When he's in motion, though, they ride up a little and it's apparent that they should be at least 1 or 2 inches longer. It looks a little skimpy. He claims he didn't notice it being a major problem until I commented...now they bother him.

I thought about fixing this at the time, but I didn't think I could make a good repair without making it look bad. These sleeves are cast on at the cuff and knit flat and upward. After everything is seamed together, a single-crochet edging is applied for a nice edge and to counter curl. If there had been a ribbed cuff, the fix would be a no-brainer.

You and I talked it over last weekend, though, and I thought you had a good point. Just pick up the stitch heads and knit downward, trusting that I could fudge the 1/2 stitch jog in the seam.

All righty, then. I had 15 g of the original yarn (Cascade 220 Heathers), plus a 9 g swatch which had been blocked before knitting. After unraveling the swatch, I decided that this portion was way too Ramen-noodly to use, even with a quick steaming.

Step #1: Patiently unpick the crocheted edging and the mattress stitch sleeve seam, stitch by stitch.

Step #2: (after about 30 minutes). Swear a little, run a smaller needle through the sts about 3 rows down, and cut off the excess fabric.

Step#3: Knit back and forth until the yarn almost runs out, trying to ignore the nasty groove marking the pick up row.

Step #4: Decide that a crocheted bind off will look and function nearly the same at the crocheted edging, and do this loosely.

Step #5: Re-sew the mattress seam, which seems funny, since you're looking for the ladders within each stitch, not between sts. In other words, the intact sts flanking either side of the seam look upside down compared with how you're used to matressing. Fudge the join and sew in ends.

Step #6: Steam the heck out of the cuffs, focusing on the curl at the ends and the irregular pick up row.

Summary:

Pros: Husband's sweater has longer sleeves (by about 2") now. The join is 3" above the cuff, but I lost nearly an inch with the excision. The operation took about 3 hours, which would have been much less if I had succumbed to cutting the bind-off right off the bat.

Cons: The pick up row is visible, even after steaming. I've convinced myself it looks kind of like the groove you get with a knitted-in hem.

What do you think?

Love, Eyeknit