One of my most frustrating knitting projects ever, so I am delighted it is all over and done with.
This is the round neck version of the Little Miss Marple cardigan that I finished last month. I have used the same salmon pink yarn for the ribbing, but this time it looks overwhelmingly orange because that is the colour that predominates around the neck.
The main part of the cardigan is in fisherman's rib, knitted in two random yarns in two-row stripes - a neutral yarn in shades of white, cream and pale grey, alternating with a pastel shaded yarn in a variety of shades of green, blue, grey, yellow and pink.
I love the finished effect of the shaded stripes.
What I didn't love was the amount of undoing and re-knitting I had to do. It was all entirely my own fault, but that is half the fun of not using a pattern. I thought I was making it exactly the same as the previous cardigan, but just changing the neckline, but for some reason I seemed to end up with more stitches at the top of the sleeves.
I started the shaping for the neckline too soon, and ended up unravelling about a dozen rows and doing it again.
Once I had done that I managed to get the decreasing for the raglan on the front left hand side shifted over a stitch out of place. Served me right for getting too interested in the video I was watching. I had to drop the stitches down several rows and pick them up with the decreasing in the right place - no mean feat when dealing with fisherman's rib. It took almost an hour.
The next error was having too many stitches on the collar when it came to casting off. It didn't lie flat. This time I undid about six rows, and resolved the problem by carrying on the raglan shaping into the collar.
Eventually I worked out why I had kept getting things wrong. Fisherman's rib compresses the knitting, meaning you need more rows per inch for the number of stitches than for straightforward stocking stitch. This is why the line of decreasing at the shoulders runs at a 45 degree angle, giving a right angled yoke effect when a band of colour is worked across the chest. I am more used to stitches that give a wider angle, so I was slightly thrown with the shaping for the shoulders and neck.
Despite the frustration, I was pleased with the result. So much so that I decided to make another.
I have already started.
This time, however, I shall keep a record of what I am doing.
If I blog it, is anyone up for a knit along?
Cute cardigan - even if it was a bit of a headache at first. Next one should go much more smoothly. As for a knit-a-long, I hung up my needles years ago after doing an Argyle sweater for my soon to be husband. It was perfect with the diamonds but the plain back went badly kaput - so much so that it was way too big for him and my dad used it for gardening instead - the thick diamonds kept his tummy warm!
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