Renovating knits

 Way back when, I made a very pretty capelet in one of my favourite colours in a wonderful pure alpaca yarn.

Nice yes?

I loved everything about it.  It knit itself in one weekend...and then lay around for months while I tried a couple different ways to hem it.

I mostly wore it at home.  The clasps were not a good choice of closure for the sort of work I did at the store.  They popped open every time I bent over to get something.  And being alpaca, it was warm, too warm for walking, leaning, lifting, carrying  all day.  It slipped down, down till it was at the bottom of the pile and such a beautiful thing is worthy of far better treatment.

I found a few more balls of this stunning blue when I was digging in the the store room in my last weeks at the store.  That, plus the 3 or 4 skeins I had left from this project, means I have enough to turn my pretty capelet into a rather dainty cardigan.

Wouldn't it be neat if all I had to do was join it at the underarms and keep knitting?  But sadly no.  There would be a little more work to it than that. Still, it is an idea that intrigues me.

Has anybody ever done an afterthought sleeve?  Heard of it before?  No,  me neither.  But you know...

I have to think on it some more.  I suppose it is a good thing there are sweaters to be done for Christmas. What is it that carpenter's say? Measure twice, cut once.  A knitter's afterthought corrolary must be think twice, cut once.