Royal Blue Myrna

Today I am sharing my latest finished knitting project. The yarn is Morris & Sons Empire Merino in 10 ply in "Imperial". I originally bought the yarn to make another Miette as my first two have been such successes, but instead of the cotton I'd used previously, I wanted to try using some wool.

I say intended because when I checked my gauge with the merino it was waaaay off for the required gauge for the miette; while the stitches were right, the rows were out by a LOT. So, rather than risk ruining the cardigan, or try and work out how to alter the raglan sleeves of the miette pattern to work with the number of rows I have, I decided to use a different pattern; the Myrna.

Another beautiful pattern from Andi Sutterland, the myrna is knit in one piece, top down, with set in short row sleeves. I'm a really big fan of this method of construction, as the one time I've tried seaming I really didn't like it. And, since I've actually learnt how to pick up stitches properly (I found this video really helpful), and also used the tips in this post.

I really like the simplicity of the pattern. The row of holes around the edge gives the cardigan some interest but it is still a nice 'basic'.

I knit the small, which is probably a little too small across the bust, but the next size up would have been too big. If anybody has any tips on how or where I'd add some extra stitches into the front to give a tad more ease I'd be very grateful.

I omitted the keyhole in the upper back and also added a couple extra repeats to the length.

Wearing it with a dress it's a good length, but wearing it with a skirt this week it was that tiny bit too short, and I think for wearing with skirts I would prefer it about as long as the ribbing again.

How do you decide on your ideal length?
Do you think this cardigan would be too long with dresses like this if it were longer?
Do you have skirt cardigans and dress cardigans?

  

The last change I made to the pattern was the sleeves. I wanted long sleeves on this cardigan, so I substituted in the sleeves from the Aiken pattern, which Andi assured me on Twitter would work out fine and it thankfully did. To make the sleeves the right length I just kept going, at the same rate of decreases until they were the length I wanted.

I was really pleased when I'd finished the sleeves, until I realised that I had forgotten to add the row of holes before the ribbing... I asked my instagram followers if they thought I should fix it and it was a unanimous YES, so I begrudgingly unravelled the ribbing and added the holes into the sleeves.

And lastly, the buttons. Oh the buttons. They really are so beautiful. The buttons are glass buttons from Buttonmania, that I was informed are from the 1940s. They have a lovely flower pattern in them with a foil back which makes them really shine.