cardie win

I almost forgot to post pictures of my finished cardigan! Probably because I did my usual trick of finishing a winter garment just in time for spring. I need to knit faster, or maybe just plan ahead a tad better. I had to go to Cumbria for the weekend to make sure extra sure I was somewhere cold enough to be able to wear it. Here I am, keeping warm while standing on an old midden. (This would have basically been a toilet for livestock in olden times - I know how to pick a glamorous spot for a picture.)



The pattern is Audrey in Unst from the Twist Collective, and the yarn is Austermann Alpaca silk, that I got from Purl City yarns on opening day. This is, like, megaluxury yarn, i love it! Putting it on is such a comforting treat, it's just so soft and warm, with that slight alpacay hairiness that makes it like a favourite pet.


I also think it's the best fitting thing I've managed to make myself so far, it's loose without being comically baggy, just really comfortable and wearable. Yay!

The only modification I made was to make it a bit longer. In the pattern it's quite cropped, but I like jeans and jumpers to safely overlap. Particularly as I cycle around a lot, I feel it's both more comfortable and more considerate to keep one's arsecrack under wraps. I basically cast on the 36.5" size and lengthened the twisted ribbing by an inch or two. Then carried on decreasing to the waist for the 34.5" size, then followed the pattern for the smaller size.

It was loads of fun to make, and really easy, all knitted seamlessly from the bottom up. The twisted rib / stocking stitch section was mindless enough for tv knitting, and the unst lace panel at the front was an interesting diversion before nice easy short row sleeves. The sleeves were super quick to knit, I've not done a short row sleeve cap before but it really was a lot less faff than a set-in one. (Once I'd worked out how to pick up stitches tidily). Another new thing for me was the i-cord cast off round the neck. I have totally and completely fallen in love with this cast off method. It just looks really solid and pleasing, I really don't mind that it takes loads longer.

The only slight downside is that one side of the lace panel was knitted on my bus commute to work, and the other side in Port Street Beer House. I didn't notice until blocking that this had affected my tension rather noticably - I was considerably more relaxed in the pub! I kind of like that though. One of my favourite things about knitting a big project like this is the way you can look at different bits of it and remember where you were when you were knitting it. I'm in no danger of forgetting with this one ;)