Daydream Cardigan

I fell in love with this cardigan and have waited over a year for someone to have a baby girl, just so that I can knit it.

This project was started, partially as an exercise to reduce my stash, but also as a break from the interminable man-raglan that I've started for my husband. I would get a bit stir-crazy working on a maroon 4-ply sweater with very little progress to show. So this little cardigan was chosen for it's simplicity and charm.

Pattern Source: Yarn: # of balls: Notions: Needles: Meterage: Yarn Source: Colour: Size: Started: Finished: Resting Period: Recipient :

Rowan Babies Jaeger Pure Cotton (Discontinued) 3 skeins 3 buttons, 1 meter length of ribbon 2.75mm, 3.25 mm 123 meters/50g stash blue 6-12 month old 28 April 2004 3 May 2004 None Meg

Jaeger Pure Cotton is a lovely yarn. Pity that it has been discontinued for some years. It was a good substitute for Rowan Cotton Glacé, at a fraction of the price. The Pure Cotton has a wonderful sheen and for a mercerised cotton, it was very forgiving, as even my tension looked even on this cardigan with it's acres of stocking stitch.

The only bad thing about this yarn is that it splits. Like Dale Kolibri, the splitting can be very bad and noticeable, so you really need to pay attention and check every few rows to correct any mistakes right away.




I couldn't understand how Rowan could rate this as a 2 star pattern, since it was just very basic stocking stitch with a tiny bit of lace, but once I got onto the front, it was clear that the pattern was not quite as simple as I'd expected. For one thing, the raglan decreases on the front did not give the same number of eyelets as the back. Then, there was the picking up of stitches using 2.75mm to knit the button band. It took me 3 goes before I finally got it to the point that I could live with it. I still think that it could be neater, but I had really had enough of it when I was done. Then I noticed that the buttons that I bought were too big. The ones that I eventually sewed on are still too big, but they did go into the button holes. (Now the parents that have to put a wiggly baby into this are definitely going to curse me when they can't get the buttons in).

Project Notes

1. I never bind off the neck on the back of the sweater. I find that knitting off live stitch gives a neater edge than picking up the same number of stitches that I had to bind off.

2. The pattern has more eyelets in the raglan on the back than the front, since the neckline is a modified vee shape, so read the instructions carefully, when you decrease the front sides.



3. The easiest way to thread that ribbon was using a large tapestry needle. I also unplied a length of the left over yarn to sew on the buttons. I think I had less than a meter of yarn left, after I finished this caridgan, so make sure you buy an extra ball, especially, if you usually leave long ends.



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