FO: Carolyn cardigan

Pattern: Carolyn, from the Spring 2007 Knitty
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool, 3 balls Rosewood Heather & just over 2 balls Natural Mix
Needles: 5.5 mm & 5.0 mm KP Options

I am so, so pleased. It’s comfy, it’s cozy, it fits properly, and it’s pink. Additionally, it’s only two degrees above freezing this afternoon, so I have no excuse not to wear it.

Nicely written and uncomplicated pattern, well-suited to evenings of film-watching. There was uncorrected errata in the sleeve cap shaping for my size, but the raglan shaping made it easy to work around–I just repeated the armhole shaping for the back, reversing where necessary, for all of the raglan lines. It made it easier to line up the stripes, anyway. Teaching myself mattress stitch also made it easy to keep the stripes aligned; I’m so impressed with how simple and neat it is that I doubt I’ll go back to my first type of seaming.

It looks like it pulls a bit across the bust, but it doesn’t. (I had the camera on a ten-second timer–not a lot of time to run in front of it, get into position, and adjust things.) The only mods I made were to shorten the sleeves by three inches and reduce their width by an inch. The body is longer on me than intended, since I’m so short, but I prefer it this length. What I really like is that the shaping isn’t done a few stitches in from each side, but at the 1/3 and 2/3 marks instead. Much better for my body type. Also, I only put three buttons on because I never fasten cardigans all the way. It seemed a waste of nice buttons.

I used about 230 less yards than the pattern called for. The sleeve mods can account for part, but otherwise, it’s just par for the course. Most of the time I end up with more leftovers than expected. I exchanged my unused ball of Rosewood for one of Aran Tweed, a colour I need for holiday knits.

And now that I’ve almost finished rambling, I have a confession to make. I’ve never had a full-length, long-sleeved wool sweater before. My body has temperature regulation issues; I love that I can wear this and just be warm, without the sweaty greenhouse reaction I get from thick synthetic knits.

On a final, unrelated note… I really dislike knitting on commission, especially this time of year when I have so much of my own on the go. 95% of the time I turn down requests, but there are some people I feel almost obligated to say yes to. Note to self: People are not going to be angry with you for not having the time to take on extra projects. And if they are, that should only tell you something about them, not something about yourself.