Haiku Cardi

 

Finished cardi

It would have been helpful to me if the pattern had provided more of an overview description of the process of how the cardigan will come together, because although I do enjoy patterns with unconventional construction techniques, If I had realized before starting this that the fit of the cardigan would be closer to that of a cocoon-style cardigan with a sort of dolman-type sleeve, I might not have opted to work this pattern, because I generally don't care for cocoons or dolman sleeves.

Nevertheless, I am glad that I made this cardigan. It is a paid pattern designed by Svetlana Volkova. At about 21 inches length, measured from the top of the shoulder, I decided to add pockets of 29 stitches wide by 44 rows deep. I knitted the pocket linings in contrasting black yarn.

Some ways I deviated from the written pattern include making simple kfb increases instead of M1R/M1L increases and adding the pockets. I like the oversized fit even if the cardigan is somewhat less constructed than I had expected before starting the project. Total stitches after rejoining below armholes: 253.

This cardigan begins in the center-back and works upward from there in the shape of a triangle. When the triangle is large enough, the point of the triangle is at the back of the wearer's neck, and the wide side of the triangle wraps around the waist. The slanted sides of the triangle are then worked separately to finish the upper back on each side and wrap around the shoulder and become the upper front on each side. The front sides are then rejoined to the back to form the arm holes and stitches picked up along the bottom of the triangle. Then all stitches are knitted together to make the bottom part of the cardigan.

I do like how this project turned out, but I think if I make it again I will incorporate garter stitch instead of ribbing, because the ribbed front placket on this one wants to fold over toward the stockinette. Hopefully washing and blocking will fix that issue, but I'm thinking that using garter stitch plackets would naturally lie better than the ribbing.

Sheep Wagon Shawl

I was lucky enough to grab the Sheep Wagon Shawl pattern by Joanna Johnson while it was free during its first days on Ravelry. Now the pattern costs $4, but that's still a small price to pay because it's a lovely, well-executed design.

This is the shawl I referred to in my previous post that I worked using Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn.

I varied from the original pattern by incorporating some gradient striping based on the chart in the Gradient Mitts (free pattern) to transition from top color (Taupe) to bottom color (Charcoal), making this a simple, two-color striped shawl. I doubled the number of rows in the gradient stripes, so instead of being worked across 30 rows, I worked them across 60 rows, starting after row 62 of the shawl pattern.

Bottom edge stitch count: 535.

Update 4/10/15: I added a crocheted lace border adapted from Kim Guzman’s Cinnamon Fling wrap (free pattern) to accomplish two things. One, to alleviate the inevitable hem curl with stockinette fabric. And two, to add a few more inches in length.

The funny story here is that I ran short of the Charcoal Cotton-Ease yarn. This is visible in the above photo, where you can see a color variation in the bottom knitted rows of the shawl. I wasn't able to find anymore of that shade in my local stores, and I wasn't able to find anymore of it to buy online (not any that was reasonably priced, at least). I was about to give up, but I reached out to yarncraft designer Darleen Hopkins of Crochet by Darleen Hopkins. Darleen has made a lot of her designs using Cotton-Ease, so I explained my problem of running short of the Charcoal yarn. She did have a newer skein of that color and generously offered to sell it to me. We all know how yarn companies like to mess with their dye processes, so naturally the two versions of Charcoal weren't an exact match, but at this point in my big shawl project I was not about to give up! Thank you, thank you, Darleen, for saving me!!!

I was able to complete the Sheep Wagon Shawl pattern to length, but this is how close I came to using the entire skein Darleen sent me - just 1.4 ounces left (including the label band):

So a few days later when I decided to add the crocheted lace border, I opted to do that in black Caron Simply Soft - something STILL AVAILABLE IN MY LOCAL STORE. Hahaha!

Newborn owl hat

I knitted this sweet newborn owl hat for my friend Rose's baby boy Dominic.

I didn't really use a pattern for the hat portion. I just cast on with blue on 4mm needles and started knitting the ribbing, then switched to gray for the stockinette part at the top. A "sack"-style hat like this is knitted straight (no decreases for the crown), so it's very simple to do. I grafted the top seam and added a strand of each yarn color for the long tassels at the "ears."

I followed the instructions for the crocheted eyes and beak from Sarah Zimmerman's free Owl Hat pattern.