Pattern: Pea Pod Baby Set by Kate Gilbert (currently unavailable )
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK, 2½ x 50g balls in colour: #18006
Needles: 3.5mm circs

There’s a lot to be said for knitting with yarn thicker than sewing thread. This cardigan took just three days to complete and I made sure it wasn’t waiting around for buttons this time.

The pattern is very simple and quick because of all the stocking stitch, but interesting because of the lace panel. I followed it as it was, except for the sleeves, which as written are knitted flat, seamed and then sewn into the armholes. Instead of that, I picked up the sleeve stitches around the armhole opening after seaming the shoulders (and actually, I did this with a three-needle cast off instead of casting off and then sewing them together, so that’s another modification) and then knitted the sleeve downwards. This was really simple, especially as the row count is given for the sleeves, rather than “knit to x inches long”, so it was just a case of following the directions in reverse and not minding that the ribbing pattern is the other way around.

The yarn is a lot fluffier than Baby Cashmerino, which is a shame; there isn’t the same stitch definition and it picks up random bits of fluff very easily. But I love the colour – definitely not pink and a bit of a change from purple – though the dye ran something chronic while it was soaking which I think is pretty usual with reds from experience, but still disconcerting! I didn’t find any knots in the yarn, though so yay for that. Somewhat surprised that I used so little yarn. I knitted the 6 month size which takes 5 balls of DB Cotton Cashmere (94m per ball = 470m). I used less than 330m of yarn. I bought 5 balls “just in case” and didn’t even break into the fourth, which is slightly annoying as that’s close to £10 worth of yarn not used, and it’s not enough leftover to knit much else other than accessories. Maybe I’ll make a scarf with it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 1:16 pm and is filed under finished projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.