December 31, 2023

So, in late October? - a gentleman came up to our table during one Sunday knitting meeting, to ask if anyone could shorten the sleeves on a Prada cardigan he’d picked up at a secondhand store.
I said bring it to show, and we’ll see. The next week he did that. I had him try it on, and I placed stitch markers where the cuff needed to be.

It’s definitely machine-knit, and the yarn is a single chainette - think Navajo-plied on a very short scale. Cotton? Alpaca? No fibre content or care tag. Only Prada and Made in Moldava.
Whatever fibres, the yarn has zero stretch. I wouldn’t recommend it for hand-knitting! The ribbing needs to be worked tightly, and I usually work more tightly than most, but this is painful after a few rounds. I need to take frequent breaks from it. This is a good experience, but not one I’ll repeat anytime soon.

Luckily, it’s not serged, or I wouldn’t have touched it. Its assembly is what the industry calls linked. Essentially, each edge stitch is placed on a machine’s latch-hooked needles, second piece (right sides facing) placed atop, and a single thread is slip-stitched to join them.
Once I dug out some ends, it was easy to pull open - only because it unzipped from cuff-up. It would have been painstaking had it been the other direction!
When the seam was undone to where the beginning of the wrist-ribbing should be, I put a stitch holder in the last open loop.

Because there had been an added strand just after the ribbing had been knit, I picked out a strand all across just above the first cuff. Oops!
Unravelling the cuff produced a small ball.

On the second sleeve, a snip about where I wanted to begin knitting the cuffs was all it took to liberate an end. I picked out that so the unwanted length and ribbing was still attached by a strand of yarn. Unravelling it, I discovered that the machine worked two separate strands each once across and back. At the ribbing, one strand ended; the ribbing being done with only a single strand.
When it was all unravelled, I wound it up from the end, picked up stitches in the round to knit the new cuff.
When done, there may be enough yarn leftover to knit a small cap!
Not knowing the care needed, I’ll give the excess yarn to the gentleman; he might need to repair (or have repaired) some future damage.

He stopped by today to check on progress, and pronounced great satisfaction with the first cuff. Now, I just hope I can complete the second as well!

2240 hrs.
I’m at the point I need to recount rows - sweater underarm to end of cuff on completed one and calculate how much more to knit or cast-off now.
It’s late, and I have trouble enough counting accurately when not tired. Tomorrow’s not only a new day, it’s the first of a new year!

January 6, 2024

It’s done!! Unfortunately, we moved our meeting from Sunday (snow expected overnight Saturday/Sunday) to Saturday, so it’ll be at least another week before I can hand it back to Christopher. Silly me! I didn’t get his contact info! And he hasn’t called me, though he did say he still has my phone number.

January 14, 2024

Delivered and a photo taken of him wearing it.
He had asked how much I would charge, I said his choice and a McDonald’s gift card would be fine. $100 card is what he gave me!