Shrug this!

That sounds like a rude exclamation, but it actually is the name of the pattern. We are going to a friend's wedding in March and my snazzy new dress is sleeveless so I just wanted a little something to go with it. I thought about a wrap (and would buy one probably) but I like something that stays on me without me holding it. So I hit ravelry for shrug patterns and hit my stash for appropriate yarns. I decided on Shrug This which is from One-Skein Wonders but is also available for free as a PDF on the publisher's website. (Link to the html pattern, pdf available on the left) This is a nice and easy pattern but it comes out small. This was not just my problem, a few people mentioned this problem on ravelry (but did I listen? um, no.). I even swatched, people! I'm not a great one for swatching but I did it! And, just like the Yarn Harlot says, the swatch lied. Or the pattern did, or the knitting muses just hated me, whatever. Either way, the shrug turned out for a very tiny person. I could put it on, but it was just not right (unless you enjoy possibly cutting off the feeling to your arms. Then, go for it.). First, I was pissed. Then I was sad. Wasted yarn! Wasted knitting time! Then I decided to do something about it Mad Scientist/Frankenstein style. And now it fits! Here it is:

And again, on me. (ignore the crappy photo. Really. I took it myself, in a (apparently dirty) mirror, and I haven't done the little sewing job the dress needs)
Here are the problems and my solutions:

1. The armholes were too tight. This was the real mad scientisty part - I cut my knitting. gasp! I took hope from seeing the Yarn Harlot do it many a time and thought of it as a steek of sorts (it isn't exactly, but that's the idea I followed). I took matching thread and needle and sewed all around the underarm stitches that I would be cutting to reinforce them and make sure they didn't come apart on me after cutting. Then I cut them. I believe it was five stitches in the middle of each underarm.
   
2. It was too short. It was really too short after I cut the stitches which pulled it up more. For this I added an edging. I decided to do a crochet edging since it would be quicker than picking up the stitches for knitting, I think, and double crochet almost perfectly matched the pattern that was already on the bottom of the shrug. I added one row of double crochet edging to the front panels and two rows of double crochet edging to the bottom. Now it was the perfect length for this dress!

Yay! Problem solved. :-) Oh, info on the yarn: It is Plymouth Fantasy Naturale, a mercerized cotton. The tiny shrug took the first skein so then I had to go into the second one for the edging. This is the same yarn I used for one pair of Fetching, which erm, apparently I never blogged! O.k., here are the gloves too, they were for my sister for Christmas.