Skip to main content

The Great Cardigan Conundrum.....

This cardigan has been giving me GRIEF! (The alternate title to this post could be "Never knit any project that promises to be simple, fast, or quick.")

In the beginning, I let H pick out the colors...I am not crazy about the very pale rose, but, it was her choice. When reading about the pattern, several folks said the sleeves ran small- so I increased the size and knit along happily.

Alas, it was too small, and a sleeve with no ease looks ridiculous! By then, I had also finished the yoke because at this point I was excited about doing some color work. I liked this initial arrangement of colors on the yoke, but did I write down the sequence? Heavens no! Why, I was going to remember it, of course! Friends and dear ones tried to convince me to finish it up at this point and give it to my younger daughter- the sleeves would fit. I thought I could, but in the end, I wanted to fix it.

Ribbit Ribbit Ribbit........the first of many dips in the frog pond.

Then, I re-knit the sleeves a larger size. Problem solved! Now, how did that yoke section go????? I tried this one:






and I didn't like it. Then I tried maybe 4 more versions???? (I just could not bring myself to photograph them all.)


Finally, I ended up with this one. So, at this point, we are in decent shape, right?




Well, not exactly. You see, there is this problem....



The pattern calls for ribbing along the button band....it's not so great! At first, I thought I could solve the problem of the shrinking edges of the ribbing by picking up more stitches- this, I reasoned, would make the button band thicker and counteract the dreadful appearance....not so much.

I also don't like the way it looks along the top, either.


Of course, I wove in the ends already....I would like to just keep knitting....I could be done this weekend. I only have the other side of the button band to knit. I even have button "stand ins" already- but I don't really like those, either. They are pale pink and the saleslady rushed me into choosing them. I only bought them to use until my USA scout finds heart-shaped ones. When the real buttons arrive, I can simply change them. Maybe I should forge ahead and finish with the weird button band, or maybe I should just ball this whole thing up and hide it in a distant corner of my freezing cold basement......what to do, what to do.

The other less than pleasant aspect is that I am already finished with 3/4 of another one of these....for my youngest daughter. The colors are different- they kind of coordinate- which is what the girls were trying to achieve....UGH!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hey Knitty,
The colors are great,,,,what? You don't like them? The sweater looks wonderful. Flaws in your eyes....minor in the eyes of a flegdling knitter. (Also hard to see on a fast moving wearer.) Buttons soon to be on the way. They'll make all the difference, tee-hee!

Glad to see you knockin off your projects.....an inspiration. Although I did get a new knit book.

Keep the fingers flying!!!!

Popular posts from this blog

Presenting Tiny....

My friend's son has an imaginary friend- a bunny named Tiny. I just think it's the sweetest thing EVER. Apparently, Tiny can be naughty and is responsible for a whole slew of mischievous behavior at her house. Tiny also has been known to jump out the car window- requiring my friend to pull over to give him a chance to catch up. It's just so sweet. Tiny was born red, and has since metamorphasized to purple. I have wanted to knit Tiny for a long time, and I am so tickled to have finally completed this loving task. Tiny is safely in the arms of his boy- his sister is the one who got the elephante. Tiny is from the Last Minute Knitted Gifts book and is made from Swish Superwash from knitpicks. The yarn was soft and squishy just the way Tiny should be. I wish I had an entire army of these.

fonzie

Oh my gosh, our little buddy looks so old in this picture! Here he is in his new sweater. Yep, it's buckeye colors left over from the baby sack. A long time ago, I bought him some Donnegal (sp?) tweed and a fancy book with adorable patterns. It remains unknit...but I did throw together this little number sans pattern. (There's still hope for the other one!) He does kind of have a funny body shape, though and the armholes were too big, so I tightened them up with some crochet. Of course, there's the "F." He can't wear it at night because he gets too hot, but during the day, he is more comfortable with his little sweater- no shivering for this pampered pooch. P.S. Thanks for the cute Halloween card for the boy Nanny-o, he loved it...oh, and he misses you too!

Starksy is in action....

but not quite finished. Seems like this is the never-ending project. I am super happy with the results, but I hadn't put the little belt loops on yet. I wasn't going to, more because I wanted to be finished with this project. But from the first attempts to get pictures of Starsky, I can see it needs to be done. There's an unsightly little ridge/bulge of sweater fabric over the belt in the back. Not a good look for anyone. More pictures to come and sorry Mimi- it fits. Strangely, no matter how it looks, it feels great and I love it. It's just what I wanted, a comfy slouchy sweater. More later, off to start the day. I think it looks more like a "professor sweater" than a crime fighting sweater- more like Starsky, Phd.