FO: Helena Cardigan

Pattern: Helena by Alison Green Will
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK, 2½ x 50g balls in colour: #18006
Needles: 3.75mm and 2.75mm circs and dpns

I actually finished this over a week ago, but it’s been in the pile waiting for blocking and buttons.

I wasn’t intending to knit another cardigan; not when there’s my own one to finish and still the poor baby has a lack of feet warmers. But I saw this pattern on Ravelry and remembered the chunk of leftovers I had from the Peapod Cardigan and figured that anything I use doesn’t have to be found storage space in my stash! As it was, I had literally two metres of yarn left over, so I really got as much out of the yarn as possible, though I admit I was sweating over whether I’d have enough when it came to the border!

The pattern was really simple to follow and I didn’t do anything to change it. Though I chose to make buttonholes instead of the ties that the original pattern uses. They’ll either get knotted or come undone and bug me and quite honestly, I think buttons look nicer. I had to re-do the buttonhole border a couple of times because it kept pulling in and looking crap and I’m still not totally happy with it, but after fiddling around with a sewn cast off from Montse Stanley’s Knitter’s Handbook, it looks passable. If it was a gift, though, I’d probably redo it for the third time.

Now I must concentrate on warming her legs and feet and finishing off that pesky giant lap blanket cardigan for me…