The latest cardigan to fly off my needles it the Myrna Cardigan, yet another wonderful pattern by Andi Satterlund. I think its safe to say that I have become completely obsessed with her patterns. This is the 5th pattern I have knit of hers, and the 6th is on the needles now. Plus, there are 3 more that I'm dying to knit. I've had some other knitting projects jump to the front of the line (more on that soon) so those other Andi patterns will have to wait.
This project all started with the dress. I found this lovely little dress at a thrift shop. The fabric is a cotton blend with cream, green, and a touch of pink stripes with a metallic gold over tone. It's so summery and comfortable. My absolute favorite part is those huge pockets. I love a dress with pockets and spend most of the day with my hands in them swing them back and forth like a little girl. Considering our summer was winding down to a close (and its' been a cold summer) I knew I needed to make a cardigan specifically for this dress. I have had this strong compulsion lately to knit sweaters with specific garments in mind. I wore this dress out to a friends to share some knitting knowledge, tips and tricks with her. When I was leaving she slipped me a $20 bill and told me to take it to the yarn store. How could I say no? I already knew that I needed a sweater for this dress and I had the pattern, the only thing left was the yarn. I had so much fun in the yarn store picking up all the yarn and holding it up to my dress. I had plenty of help from the shop owner and other patrons. Collectively, we all decide on Cascade Yarns Pacific in Spring Green. You can find this yarn on Amazon. It is a worsted weight, 60% Superwash Merino Wool/60% Acrylic blend. This is a relatively inexpensive yarn that is very durable. A great yarn for sweaters. There is little to no elasticity to this yarn so it may not be the best yarn if you are planning on having a lot of negative ease in your knit.
What really caught my eye and made me want to knit this pattern is this wonderful little keyhole detail on the back. Really, how cute is that? I totally love that a tiny bit of my lotus tattoo is playing peek-a-boo with the world. I also love these slightly poufy sleeves. They give a wonderful 1950's feel to the sweater. This feature will also make it comfortable to wear over blouses. So many of my cardigans have fitted sleeves and I've realized that they fit wonderfully over tank tops, t-shirts and sleeveless blouses, but as soon a I put on a regular blouse, the sleeves fit uncomfortable and unflatteringly under the cardigans. Yuck, who wants that? So, I'm happy to be able to wear this with my blouses.
I did learn a few things by making this sweater. I did not pay attention to ease for this sweater and ended up making the size that gave me zero ease. That means the sweater does not cling to me (even where I would like it to). I knew that due to my yarn choice, I couldn't give it too much stretch, but I overcompensate. Therefore my end result is a bit slouchy. I've also come to realize that even though Andi's patterns are absolutely fabulous at body (chest) shaping, and my chest measurement is always in the size list, my chest measurement is not of the norm. More than your average gal, the majority of my chest measurement is in the front. I am all boob. When I need to special order my bra's online I should realize that my chest measurements are not like the average gal. No wonder I've never had any luck sewing tops. Thankfully a friend of mine made a suggestion I had never thought of. She suggested that I go down a size for the back of the sweaters, and do the suggested size for the fronts. HOLY HAND KNITS!!! What a brilliant idea. It makes so much sense. Now too damn bad I've already done the back on my next sweater, I'm going to have to wait awhile to try this theory out. I also think this will help with the issue of my narrow shoulders any why a lot of my sweaters seem to slip off my shoulders and drive me absolutely bat crap nutty.
Am I the only one with bizarre fitting issue? Do you have any areas of your body that give you consistent fitting issues, how have you learned to work with then? I'm always looking for tips or idea.
I've been very sad lately to say good bye to summer. For the most part, here in Alaska our fall/autumn consists of about 2 weeks in which the temperature drops considerably, the leaves on the trees turn beautiful colors and almost immediately fall to the ground. We all scramble around to get the leaves raked, our cars and homes re-winterized, and dig out all our winter gear from the depths of the basement or closets hopefully all before that first snow hits. Fall can sometimes feel like the slow, painful decent into the frigid depths of winter. I sometimes forget to embrace the beauty of it all. Well, I'm thankful to say that this last week has been beautiful and I've been able go get out and enjoy it as much as possible.
These photos were taken at Holm Town Nursery. Although the nursery is no longer filled to the ceiling with flowers, vegetables and other lovely greenery, it is still a delightful place to visit. We got a coffee and soup from their café and had good enough weather to sit out side while we ate, chatted and knit for a while. Thank you so much to my friend Barbra for a delightful outing and an extra thank you for being my photographer for the day.
How is everyone else enjoying fall? I fear ours is almost over as most others is just starting. However, I'm going to enjoy every second I can of it.
Until next time, go take a walk. Get out and enjoy the leaves changing.
XOXO,
Cherry
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