I am incredibly behind in posting this cardigan. I actually finished knitting it in February, and bought the buttons for it when Social Sewing went on the Road. And then the cardigan hung in my wardrobe and the buttons in my desk drawer until a few weeks ago.
The pattern is the Whole Wheat pattern on ravelry, and you can see my previous posts about the cardigan here. I lengthened the sleeves to be 3/4 length for a bit more warmth though.
This cardigan was quite different from my first cardigan, as it was knit in pieces then seamed together. The pattern was written very differently as well, which was interesting. The miette pattern was written out line by line, but this one was written to things like 'knit until piece measures xx inches', which made me more worried about making it the right size.
I really love the lace and cables design that makes up the 'fabric'.
However the fit of the cardigan itself ended up a bit off, the shape of the sleeve head seemed wrong when I was knitting it, it seemed too flat at the time but I decided to be a good little knitter and follow the pattern. The sleeves ended up coming out a big baggy in the upper arms. I considered at one point taking the seam in to make it tighter, but after wearing it a few times I decided that I didn't care that much.
Another issue was the shoulders being a bit wide, which I did end up fixing. As the neck band around the back was knit separately and then joined to the cardigan, I unpicked that join, unravelled an inch or so from the neck band and rejoined it, easing the top of the cardigan onto the shorter band. This narrowed the shoulders enough so it doesn't fall off my shoulders anymore.
It's not perfect (there are a few mistakes, that I'm not going to point out to you), but I'm pretty happy with it considering it's only my second knitted garment.
PS: Have you seen Lizzy's beautiful version of this pattern? We started knitting these at about the same time, but she finished (and blogged) hers waaaay before me.
Holy monkey hats! I can't believe this is your second piece!!!! O.o It's beyond rad!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I much prefer this design with the sleeves the way you made them. I think you're a natural knitter!
ReplyDeleteJust lovely. Really really lovely - congratulations. Together we almost make a Weetbix with all that wholesome looking wheat!
ReplyDeleteI think this turned out beautifully! It's a perfectly delightful combinations of lace and cables. It's hard to notice the issues you mentioned in your post. I think the cardigan looks lovely, especially considering it is your first seamed project. Seamed projects do take a bit of adjusting, but they are so much more worth the effort that goes into knitting them. This garment will have structure and strength not possible to achieve in a 'round' or "back and forth" project, which will help it to maintain its shape and prevent it from stretching over time.
ReplyDeleteI think it looks great. Amazing second project. I've had this pattern on my list for a while...
ReplyDeleteWow. That's beautiful! Makes me wish I had the patience to knit!
ReplyDeleteYou are too hard on yourself! It looks really flattering - and I'm sure you'll get lots of use out of such a great basic! :)
ReplyDeleteSoooo, taking orders yet?
ReplyDeleteLove it! The lace and cabling are just gorgeous. I really need to make myself some cropped cardis. I tried to buy one the other week and can't find any anywhere. So the only solution is to knit them myself!
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful. Well done you :-)
ReplyDeleteWell done! I've also looked at this pattern and have been sceptical about this knitting until a certain length. Did you count the rows or did you really measure the knit?
ReplyDeleteit look amazing. Nice work :) I like the colour you have chosen too
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