Autumn Cape: A Stitch in Time Saves 9 – but only if you have the Yarn

Autumn Cape: A Stitch in Time Saves 9 – but only if you have the Yarn

Apologies for the presentation of this blog there is a technical error somewhere that escapes me.

I know that this blog is quite soon after the last but I had a reminder of something that perhaps I should have mentioned earlier. Therefore I am tagging it in with the Autumn Cape series though it is only vaguely related.

As you know I like to try and reuse materials as and when they become available. 

Green Bamboo Top  

Copyright Knit Nottingham 2011

The jumper in the post above became far too big for me so I unravelled it and made a cape a couple of years back.

Green Cape

Copyright S. Oates 2015

Unfortunately I caught the bottom of it in the wheels of a mobility scooter and tore the edging so I would have had to mend it.

Torn Edging

I quickly used some of the strands hanging off to secure the edging. I remembered the old adage- A Stitch in Time Saves 9. This would prevent further damage whilst I was trying to repair it.

I also noticed that during the last wash some holes had appeared. These too would have to be mended.

Holes in back of Cape

Luckily I kept some yarn back to use in case it ever needed repairing. The green cotton was fine but I had problems with the edging. I had both the pattern and yarn but due to an oversight I had never made a note of what needles I had used when customising the pattern.

A slight panic enveloped and I turned to social media for advice. After discussing it with the combined brains of the crafters of both ‘Witchy Threads - From Spindle To Hook and Eye’ and ‘Pagan and Magical Knitting and Crochet’ they came up with the suggestion of trying putting needles in the gaps and see which fit.

This I duly tried. Unfortunately I still couldn’t quite work out which needles to use. Then I had a brain wave. Since the cape was made a few years back when I was only beginning to get back into knitting I would only have had a few sets of needles.

I could discount the double ended needles and had misplaced (and still not found) my bamboo set so that only left my circular needles. Instant night time rummage otherwise known as tipping box upside-down and getting out all needles.

Aha! Eureka! Only 4 sets and two of them were the same size. Get yarn and cast on 5 stitches – that was the start of pattern. Way too small thus must be the largest size. Sigh of relief.

Edging

This is the Wavy Pattern on 5mm needles

Repaired Edging

This shows the Edging sewn on top of the damaged piece

Holes Mended

The Cape is once again fit for purpose. Many thanks for the advice and a good reminder of why it is important to note things down if customising patterns!