And she knits, too! (yaiAnn)

I've been buckling down to finish a lot of projects I've had lingering for months. The puff-sleeved cardigan was one of them. The only thing that was left to do was to put on the buttons. I decided to have a button sewing marathon in order to finish this sweater and then my BBW shirt. The good news is I put the buttons on the cardi. The bad news is ... I can't find my BBW shirt! Sadness.. total sadness. I have the sash, but no shirt! This is what I get for waiting so long. I hope it turns up soon. Because I really want to wear it.

Pattern: Puff-Sleeved Feminine Cardigan, Fitted Knits
Yarn: Cascade 220
Started: January 2008
Finished: August 2008

This is how horrible of a knitter I've been lately. I normally take pretty good notes about my modifications and what not, but I have not a clue where I wrote anything down for this. I don't remember what size I knit, what needles I used or what gauge I knit at. See, I'm horrible. I have a feeling I made all mental notes thinking that I'd blog about within a few weeks. I finished all the knitting for this sweater in early April and I guess a few weeks turned into a few months and now my brain is mostly mush about it now. But the modifications were pretty simple and you can definitely fudge your way through them.

The most obvious modification was to the peplum. I decided to make it all stockinette instead of the lace panels. I can't recall how many stitches I increased to but I believe I did something along the following lines *k1, m1, k2, m1* repeating to the end. I wanted to give the peplum ruffled look. I also finished off the bottom of the sweater by knitting one purl ridge and followed by a seed stitch band.

Next, the sleeves. I made the sleeve cuffs match the bottom of the sweater and only knit one purl ridge followed by seed stitch.

This is a really fun sweater. It's not as fitted as it should be but I like it with a bit more ease. What I love most about it is the color. I've already worn it twice and have gotten a lot of compliments on it (one was even from a complete stranger). There would be one thing I'd change about it if I were to knit this again. I would add waist shaping to the back of the sweater to help bring it in more. The back is a bit billowy but it's not that bad.

Overall, I really really like it. It is pretty warm for a short sleeved sweater. But I think it's party because I used Cascade 220 which a larger gauge. The fabric turned out a little denser than it would have otherwise, so it does pack in the heat. But I have to admit, it does make me feel rather girly. I think it all has to do with the color!

Comments (18)

Just beautiful!

Posted by LisetteM | September 15, 2008 4:23 AM

Love it! it looks fantastic.

Posted by adrienne | September 15, 2008 4:48 AM

lovely cardigan!

the shirt has to turn up somewhere--i hope you find it soon! whenever i misplace something, my mom always says "well, it's not in my pocket", followed by "what, you think it just sprouted legs and walked off?". tough love, tough love.

Posted by sixoneseven | September 15, 2008 5:09 AM

OMG so adorable!

Posted by Bonny | September 15, 2008 5:21 AM

Actual knitting?! ;)
It's gorgeous! I love all your mods.
Now where could your shirt be?... It's gotta be around somewhere...

Posted by Veronique | September 15, 2008 6:08 AM

about time! looks great, perfect for fall

Posted by yahaira | September 15, 2008 6:35 AM

Lovely! And is it a girly color - so pretty.

Posted by jillian | September 15, 2008 7:06 AM

well hello, I'd almost forgotten about that pretty sweater ;-) It looks great!

Posted by Steph | September 15, 2008 9:27 AM

This looks awesome!! I can't wait for some cooler weather to wear mine, darn georgia weather!!

Posted by Leah | September 15, 2008 2:54 PM

i love the color as well! i am a sucker for all things hot pink, which is weird because i don't like pink in general! it looks great on you. i hope you find your shirt soon!

Posted by mai | September 15, 2008 5:34 PM

oh, so girly! the color and the ruffles :) i love them both.

Posted by gleek | September 15, 2008 6:11 PM

Dude! It's so cute- I love it!

Posted by Nonnahs | September 15, 2008 8:37 PM

Though the peplum is modified, I am glad you kept it. I loves it.

Posted by nova | September 16, 2008 10:53 AM

I didn't even know you were knitting this - a very cute look for you! I especially like it unbuttoned with the white tee underneath.

Lovely work, R!

Posted by lolly | September 17, 2008 8:29 AM

I think it looks so great on you! Very pretty work!

Posted by tiennie | September 17, 2008 1:25 PM