The temperature has dropped since last weekend and I don’t mind, because that means it is cold enough to wear cardigans again :) Plus I have knitted several pieces that I haven’t blogged about yet, so I used a short break from the rain to take pictures. I made that cardigan half a year ago, I think it took me so long to blog about it because I made it from store-bought yarn, which kind of feels like cheating now that I can make my own yarn. Also I didn’t use instructions for this one but thought of the design myself. I was thinking of publishing my pattern for some time but I don’t like the design enough to go through all that work. But let’s start at the beginning:
When I started knitting and discovered seamless top-down knitting I knitted a bunch of Miettes (well actually I made two, it just felt like a bunch :D) The first one I made was this green one. I knitted it in Drops Karimsa which is too thin for the pattern, so I simply knitted a larger size. I didn’t know better and I was satisfied with the result. But not for long. My knitting improved and I started seeing that the fit of that cardigan wasn’t right at all and so I stopped wearing it.
One of the good things of hand knitted garments is that you can frog them and start over again. That was what I did. The cardigan was easily unraveled because it had almost no seams.
Next thing I did was looking for patterns I liked, but I didn’t find any and so I thought that I should try thinking of my own design. The yarn was free, so what could go wrong?
I knitted several swatches and tried different patterns. In the end I went with 4,0 mm needles, so my gauge was 21 sts x 28 r = 10x 10 cm, and a faux cable pattern that I decided to use for the yokes and ribbing of the cardigan.
Now the measuring started. I measured myself and sweaters I liked until I had all the measurements I needed. I decided I wanted a cropped cardigan (I don’t thing I would have had enough yarn for a long version) and started the calculation.
I then started knitting seamlessly top-down. I didn’t run into problems while knitting. I had to think a little when I inserted the sleeves and I think they came out a little too wide.
I knitted long sleeves as I find them more practical. I stabilized the button bands with left over fabric from this dress using my preferred method. I wanted to use the buttons of my old cardigan but found that they were a little to small, but I found the same ones only bigger on ebay and applied those instead.
All in all I’m happy with the cardigan. It is way better than the old one, but I don’t think it will be one of my favorite cardigans. I think the neckline is a little too deep, the bodice is a little to long and the sleeve caps are a little too wide. I like the back view a lot though. I learned a lot making it and it was a lot of fun. I’m also less afraid to knit garments without instructions, I have just finished another cardigan that is my own design, but that is something for another blog post.
Here you can read about the making of the dress I’m wearing in the pictures, and here you can find the cardigan on ravelry.
Macht’s gut!
Katharina
Wow, you designed a knitting pattern?1 I am very impressed! It looks great, too, the fit looks excellent. Cropped cardigans always look good with dresses! How did you make the little faux cables? I can’t even knit a cable, let alone design something that looks like one.
Thanks Kirsty!
I just looked for the pattern on google to find out, that the correct term for this pattern is mock cable pattern. Grrrr. And now this is in the title… Do I change it? Maybe.. However you don’t have to use a cable needle for this pattern, it is just k2tog and some yo and I like how it looks :)
Oh no, you don’t need to change it! Mock cable and faux cable have pretty much the same meaning. I was intrigued because I can’t knit cables so I like the idea of a pattern that looks like cables without all the hard work ;)
Thank you for clearing that up :) They are cables that look like cables and are less work :) Or rather: different work :)
Wow! Fantastic job!!! Especially for a first -time to not have a pattern….. this looks great! Love all the design details and thought you put into this. I like it and hope you will wear it. Look forward to seeing what’s next in your plans!!! :)
Wow! this is so cute! I absolutely love it… and please do publish the pattern if you have the time! I know first hand how long it takes to write down a pattern though, and to proofread it… takes FOREVER! and it’s a pain to write it down as you go along too, can really interrupt the flow of what you’re doing. I KNOW!
Thanks Carolyn! You’re right, thanks for the reminder and the affirmation :) I don’t know why I am so self conscious about this.
I love the colour of your cardigan and I am so impressed by the fact you have made your own pattern.
As is sometimes the case with our sewing /knitting adventures not everything we made is 100% perfect and as you mentioned it is all a big learning curve!
Oh my gosh, obsessed. This cardigan is so stinkin’ cute. Love the silhouette (although I know you prefer a few changes), it is so cute with the dress and some cardigans are not flattering without some definition, so you have a win!! Also, the color is great. I’m definitely going to read about the dress too.
Thanks Hannah! I’m still not sure if I like the cardigan, but that might be because I put so much thought into it. So thanks for reassuring me :)