my bright red burdock cardigan

I have a few other projects that I planned on posting before this cardigan, but I just couldn't wait. I am so excited about how this turned out. 

The original pattern, the Burdock Cardigan from November Knits, had the star lace pattern on the sleeves, but since I'm not really a lace kinda person to begin with, I thought it was just too much. So I went with regular old stockinette sleeves and I'm so happy that I did.  They look just right.

This was my first time knitting a bottom-up cardigan. I'm not sure how I feel about it. All of the easy stuff comes first like the body and the sleeves, and then the shaping comes at the end. By the time I'm into the shaping, I just want to be done with the darn thing. But I will give another bottom-up pattern a go and see if I can convince myself to enjoy the process. Afterall, I did tell my mom when I started knitting that it was fun but I would never be serious enough about knitting to make anything like a sweater. Now it seems like that's all I will do.

I like this pattern, but it took me a while to understand the lace pattern well enough to not have to count my stitches and look at the pattern all the time. I like the look of the cuffs; hemmed cuffs have their place and tend to make a classier garment. I still prefer the look of regular old knit 2 purl 2 rib, but that's a sportier look and not right for this cardigan.

I love it and I want to wear it all the time. Just look how happy I am...

 

To all you knitters: click here to see the Ravelry page with my notes.

 

yarn name: Cascade 220 Quatro

yarn type: 100% woolcolorway: red
yardage: ~990 yards
needle size: US 7 (4.5mm) circular



iced, iced cardi

 

I was actually on a pretty good sewing streak there for a while.  I sewed four skirts and finished a quilt top.  Honest I did.  But this is the first project that I feel like posting.  So here it is, my new brown cardigan.

 

I really did need a brown cardigan.  I used the Iced cardigan pattern available for free on Ravelry and modified it a bit for a closer fit.  I used size 10 needles for a tighter gauge of 13 stitches per 4 inches and I knit the smallest size.  My cardigan doesn't really close in the front because it's a little too small, but I like it this way.  Since it's summertime and I decided to make a cardigan from bulky yarn, I don't see a need to close it anytime soon.

I love the three-quarter length sleeves.  Since you get to make design decisions during the knitting process when using the top-down method, I thought about knitting full length sleeves.  I had plenty of yarn and I love being able to wrap my hands into the sleeves for extra warmth.  But I'm very happy with my decision.  These are tight fitting sleeves and the only think I needed to make sure they didn't roll was to add a purl row before the final knit row.

This cardigan is a definite keeper as you can tell from the {creepy} photo above.  I've had some bad luck lately with my cardigans; the sleeves are too big or they don't hang right.  But this one finally busted me out of that slump.  This one will get a lot of good use!

yarn name: Ella Rae Country Tweed
yarn type: 50% wool, 42% acrylic, 4% alpaca, 4% other
colorway: brown/gray 02
yardage: ~574 yards
needle size: US 10 (6.0mm) circular and double-pointed

a tweedy camille knit cardigan

This is the least photogenic sweater I have ever worn.  I don't know what the problem is.  I had two separate photo shoots, both by semi-willing family members, and I came out with nothing usable.  That doesn't usually happen.  I always have something I can use.

But it took some hurried self-shots while loading up the car for a soccer game to get this one I could use.  Huh.  Maybe it's the sweater itself.

I used the Camille Cardigan pattern from Knitscene magazine's Winter 2012 edition.  Funny how mine doesn't look at all like the model in the magazine.  I was able to match the pattern's gauge, but I chose to wet block the cardigan after I finished it.  I think it grew 2 sizes.  Oops.  The difference could also be my darn lack of bosom, but I will go with my choice of yarn instead.

I really like this yarn.  I love the blue and gray together and the tweed bits spun into the yarn.  The cardigan looks so cozy if not as modern and form fitting as it was supposed to be.  And it's definitely warm.

yarn name: Ella Rae Country Tweed
yarn type: 50% wool, 42% acrylic, 4% alpaca, 4% other
colorway:  05, navy and gray
yardage: ~600 yards
needle size: US 11 (8.0mm) circular and double-pointed

boys preppy cardigan

What do you think of Trent's new cardigan?

I completely improvised this design using simple raglan sleeves and v-neck shaping down to the belly.  The main color is a natural cream.  I added thin orange and light blue (which you can't really see in the photos but they are directly under the orange) stripes to give it a moden look.  The hub says he looks like a frat boy . . . mission accomplished!

Given that this was my first knitted sweater without a pattern, I did make some miscalculations.  For instance, this was supposed to fit Logan, my almost 7-year-old.  The arms are long enough for size 7 but the body was a little too snug for my liking.  And it surely wasn't easy to convince Logan to give it up to his little brother.  Trent claims to love it, yet he won't wear it in public.

This cardigan was worked from the top down in one-piece.  I even added faux side seams just for fun.  The seams are made of one purl stitch down the stockinette sides and it gives the cardigan a more professional look.  I've read that seams help keep a sweater from twisting  and give you some nice fold lines.  I never have a problem with my sweaters twisting and I don't care about fold lines, but I wanted to try it anyway.  They were easy to add and, at the very least, the cardigan looks like it could have been purchased at Old Navy or The Gap.

Even if I'm kidding myself about looking professionally made, this will be one of my favorites for a long time.  I love the unexpected orange edging along the neck and body ribbing.

This was a fairly quick knit for me.  It took about 3 weeks.


yarn name: Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool (main), Patons Classic Wool (stripes)
yarn type: 100% wool
colorway: Natural (main), Orange & Light Blue (stripes)
yardage: ~450 yards worsted (main), ~75 yards worsted each (stripes)
needle size: US 7 (5.0mm) circular and double-pointed

my comfort cardigan

I finished it.  My first adult-sized knit cardigan.  I started this project in early October with some early birthday money that my dad gave me.  The hub took me to a local yarn shop (turns out it wasn't as local as I thought) and I bought 5 skeins of this Dried Plum Berroco Vintage yarn.  This was an exciting project for me all around because it was only about my second time at a real yarn shop and my first time buying more than 2 skeins of yarn at once.

I am also happy with myself because this is the first project since we lost Timmy that I didn't cry after I was finished.  I think that I would cry because I felt like all the time that I spent while I was knitting, being content just to sit there with my needles and work on a project while my mind steadily analyzed my feelings, was just a waste of time.  I was happy while the project was in progress, but once I was finished it didn't change anything.  I still missed my little boy and there was nothing I could do to make the raw pain go away.

But this time I didn't cry.  This time I was so excited to have a cardigan that I knit myself.  I've been wearing it every day with a smile since I finished.  It was quite a surprise to me that I actually felt happy to be done.  I expected the sadness to rush in again and overtake my accomplishment, but it didn't this time.  I am grateful to my glorious Lord for providing me this strength and filling me with peace.  I decided to make this cardigan to comfort to myself.  Whenever I wear it I will think of Timmy.  Whenever I want to think of Timmy, I will wear it.

I used the free Buttony pattern on Ravelry for this cardigan.  The asymmetrical button band adds interested to an otherwise boring stockinette cardigan.  I love that it fits me just right because it was made just for me.  I was able to try it on while I worked so I could make sure that I had my measurements just right.

I tried to add a stockinette neck to the top, but it just didn't look right.  I couldn't get the moss stitch that I included on the very top to lay properly, so I folded the neck over and stitched it in place.  This gave me a taylored collar kind of look and I love it.

It has been a lovely and peaceful birthday.  I hope Timmy is smiling at me today.  I love you, pumpkin.
 

 

yarn name: Berroco Vintage
yarn type: 50% acrylic, 40% wool, 10% nylon
colorway: Dried Plum
yardage: ~900 yards worsted
needle size: US 8 (5.0mm) circular and double-pointed

such a hoot {knitted vertebrae baby cardigan}

Well, what do you think?  This is my first knitted cardigan.  I used to loathe knitting and preferred to crochet because it was fast and easy.  I hated the complication of two sticks and yarn, but I have always relished the look knitted items, particularly hand knit ones.  Enter the anticipation of a new baby and third trimester energy and you get a mama on a mission to knit up all kinds of tiny things, including little cozy sweaters that she swore she would never take the time to learn how to do.

This is a cardigan that is specifically designed to fit just around the back and arms and I love it.  Since I don't have much knitting experience and I'm not very fast, I can't really say if it's a quick knit but I'm sure it is compared to many other projects.  It is tiny after all and has no fussy buttonholes.  This is the perfect accessory to keep a litttle one toasty warm during the winter months.

I knew I would get bored with so much stockinette stitch in a solid color so I decided to add three little cabled owls to perch on the back. I used this Wise Old Owl hat pattern that I found for free on Ravelry from knitculture.com for an idea of how to make the owl, and then I translated the pattern to fit on three owls across the back.  My 3-year-old helped pick out the button eyes.

The Newborn Vertebrae pattern is available for free from knit.so.quaint on Ravelry. I had to adjust the pattern so I could use worsted weight yarn instead of fingering weight and I think it turned out incredibly adorable. Although it looks super tiny to me who hasn't had a baby around in a few years, I think the size is about 6 months.

In case you are interested, I casted on 36 stitches and sectioned off like so: 1 sts, pm, 8 sts, pm, 18 sts, pm, 8 sts, pm, 1 sts.  I used size US8 needles for the entire cardigan, but next time I might go down a size for the ribbing.  I needed less than a skein of Bernat Satin.  I still have about a quarter of a skein left.

Within the next couple of months, I should have a model for this little number.  I can't wait to see how it looks.