Thursday, June 25, 2009

FO: Printed Silk Cardigan

Finally done and worn to work today.


Pattern: Printed Silk Cardigan by Connie Chang-Chinchio
Needles: Knitpicks US4 and Clover US3
Yarn: Ella Rae Silkience


Holy finishing Batman! There was a lot of sewing involved with this sweater. I can't believe it but I started this cardigan a year ago. The body went pretty fast but those 1x1 ribbed sleeves took forever. The cotton yarn hurt my hands when doing ribbing so i had to take frequent breaks, and it was just too much ribbing. I don't seem to tire of stockinette but ribbing, not my cup of tea. I had to fudge the sleeve caps to account for a difference in row gauge, I can't tell you what I did but it worked. I actually took the time to do the sewn bind off but it was way too floppy. I ended up crocheting around the neckline bind off for stability and modesty. The weight of my cotton yarn was making this way too boobalicious for me, it was sagging below my bustline and I wouldn't have worn it. I think it looks neater than the sewn bind off anyway.


I do like the finished product, I think it was probably worth all the work. I do doubt that I will make something with ribbed sleeves any time soon. The one thing I wish I had done was a hem or something at the bottom, I foolishly thought the cotton wouldn't curl but it is and it's bugging me. Maybe once it gets washed it will relax a bit. The buttons are from Joann's and were amazingly the perfect color. So overall I am pleased and I think this will see quite a bit of wear, it feels good to finally get this out of the WIP pile. This is already the second item I have made from the spring 08 IK magazine, one of the better issues in my opinion, and there are a few more to get too.

1 comment:

crochetgurl said...

It's gorgeous! I recently bought a lot of Ella Rae Silkience too and swatched for this pattern. But I haven't had enough time to actually start it. Do you recommend this yarn for the pattern? What would you change if you had to do it again?