Moving UFOs to FOs

Before I can dive into a fall sweater project, I am making myself finish a couple of old UFOs that are stuck because of "issues". I am happy to say: one down, one to go!


The project above (it's supposed to be a shrug) has been like this for over 2 years. It was started back during the shrug craze. It knit up very quickly. I enjoyed knitting it and loved the yarn. So what happened? I'm not really sure. It was so long ago, I've forgotten the details. But here's what I found: for whatever reason, I used a provisional cast on and knit across the back and down one sleeve. Then I knit the other sleeve in the round and left it unattached. Also, both sleeves had a flared and rolling cuff.

So, here's my fix: I knit the lone sleeve a bit further, turning it into the flat lace pattern of the back and ending on a right-side row. Then I picked up my cast on stitches from the back and I purl-grafted the sleeve and back together (the wrong-side row of the back lace pattern was purl). Next I ripped back both of the flared cuffs, finished the sleeves with an elastic bind off, and made the sleeves 3/4 length.

I'm not sure I'll end up wearing this, but my 2 daughters love it. I've decided I don't like the way shrugs are loose across the bottom part of the back. If I were to design one now, I would use short rows to fix that.


Here are the details:
Pattern: "Mia Shrug" by Karen Boykin
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns "Miracle" (50% alpaca 50% tencel); 5 balls
Color: 3332 maroon
Gauge: 5.5 st/inch
Needles: US#6/4 mm
Comments: I really liked the yarn and the simple lace pattern. I made the roses from the original pattern, but decided not to attach them.

I'm glad to cross this off my list.