My neck is too big.

A few months back, along with many of you, I participated in the Knitting Olympics. I just love the sweater that I knitted. It's warm, soft , cozy and, for the most part, fits really well. The only problem that I have with this sweater is that the neck has gotten larger than I want it to. To be honest, I had the feeling when I was finishing it up that the neck might be too large and now it's annoying me. Let this be a lesson to you, if you think that something's not quite right, it probably isn't.

What to do? A few years ago, I picked up this nifty clear elastic tape. This stuff is great; it's soft, very stretchy and hides itself in your knitting very well. To make the neck smaller, I like to use at least 2 rows of elastic. This time, I'm going to use three rows of elastic since this sweater is a bit on the heavy side.

To do this:

• Cut three pieces of tape (one for each row) and thread them through the backs of the stitches. I put one row just below the cast off, one a half inch from that and the last about an inch from the edge.
• Knot/secure only one end
• Lay the sweater out on the table
• Pull the elastic tape until you get the size you think you want, secure it with a pin. I usually just fasten a safety pin at one end and wrap the elastic around it to temporarily hold it in place.
• Distribute the fabric evenly and decide for sure if that's what you want.
• Secure the end of the tape.

Voila, the neck is the size you want and the elastic also adds some stability to the neckline. Sorry about the blurriness; as you can see, Bubba helped me take this picture. I wore it this morning and felt so clever now that the sweater is hanging better.

This sneaky little trick also works wonders with cuffs (on sweaters, mittens, gloves, etc.), hems and whereever else you think you need a bit of snugging up and/or extra stretchiness.