Yesterday, I told you about my adventure knitting, ripping out, and reknitting the reimagined Experimental Pullover. I mentioned it took me quite a while to figure out what to do about a pullover I had nearly finished, and I became weary of the bold color scheme. So, I used a more subdued colorway – deep purples. I had also decided to add interest to the pullover by applying embroidery using DMC floss, and utilizing a crucial product to make it work: Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy.
Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy is the perfect stabilizer for embroidering on your favorite knitted items using thread instead of yarn.
I used Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy, DMC floss, and DMC Chenille Needles Size 20. Sticky Fabri-Solvy adheres gently to a knitted fabric, but I also used a running stitch to secure the squares to the pullover. If you’ve never used it before, read all of the information written on the package. It’s easy to use and it’s printable. I drew my flowers on paper first to ensure I had the right flower, then I traced them onto the Sticky Fabri-Solvy.
You can print the design on Sticky Fabri-Solvy or draw on it instead, as I did.
I auditioned several DMC cotton floss colors that would add pop to the Experimental Pullover, but ultimately I decided on the pink and green collections. Perhaps the purples could have been used differently, adding other varieties of flowers.
I auditioned several DMC cotton floss colors that would add pop to the Experimental Pullover
Then I auditioned the placement of the flowers on the sweater. As shown in the photo below, I haven’t yet removed the paper backing, just to be quick about arranging the flowers. But if the backing is removed and the sticky part is on the pullover, it can be just as easily removed and placed elsewhere on the pullover, and it will still stick.
Auditioning the placement and direction of the flowers.
With all the essentials, I got to work!
All the essentials for a happy time embroidering on knits.
I embroidered the flowers using all six strands of DMC cotton floss to add thickness to the petals. I layered the petals, starting with the darker shade, then the medium, and finishing with a touch of the lighter color for depth.
Once I finished with the flowers, I thought something was missing. The issue is, once you start embroidering on knits, it’s hard to stop. I thought of adding a trim to the stripes to make it all more simpatico. So I auditioned a few leftover yarns. The light gray yarn was the winner among all these yummy options for adding a trim to the knitted stripes.
When auditioning, I rarely decide on the spot; most of the time, I leave it on the worktable and get back to it the next day.
The light gray yarn was the winner among all these yummy options for adding a trim to the knitted stripes.
I measured the width of the chest area to determine how much yarn I would need, adding six more inches. With a yarn needle, I passed the yarn over one knitted stitch and under the next, repeating this process until I reached the beginning of the work. It’s a very meditative process, so I repeated the trim using the hot pink color. But it’s tempting to add more trim. I could add some later, as this wouldn’t affect the knit project, but for the experiment, I’ll stop here. I then soaked the pullover using Soak Wash.
I added some trim using leftover yarn to add more pop to the colorway.
The Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy turns into a goo which then further disintegrates after about 5 minutes, it’s super-fast. Since I had used the yarn in my previous bold striped version of the Experimental Pullover, I left the pullover to soak overnight to remove the kinks from the yarn. I let it dry flat the following day.
The finished and blocked Experimental Pullover.
I’m pondering (and when am I not…), I might add more flowers, perhaps in the lighter purple shade. I’ll let the idea sit for a while and think about including other types of flowers. I’m also considering adding flower embroidery with yarn as an accent here and there. There may be an update on this later this summer. Using Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy… It’s easy to incorporate more embroidery into knitted projects. Let your imagination guide you. Bye for now.
The Experimental Pullover is a very warm addition to a winter wardrobe.
