Last September I got started knitting the Powdermill cardigan by Kate Davies.
It had been on my list for a while and I thought I'd have it done by Christmas. Previous cardigans and jumpers have taken 3-4 months.
Today (May) I finally added the buttons (glass buttons made in my studio)! That's only 8 months in the making!!
I knew it might take a little longer than normal, after all it's got quite a detailed pattern and is only using a DK yarn.
However, it is knitted in the round which speeds things up a bit, but did mean I had three steek's to deal with (one down the front and one for each arm hole) which then slowed me down.
Then when you think you've finished, you need to add a neck band and two bands down the front, and I sewed ribbon into the front bands too to stop the steek from unraveling! And all the sewing in ends - as you can imagine there were a few. And there might have been pauses for other projects along the way, but they weren't very long.
I used Stylecraft Special DK and love the colours! Lipstick, Royal, Citron (one ball of each) and Graphite and A Hint of Silver (two balls of each). That blue and red remind me of the drawings of princesses I used to draw as a kid, for some reason a colour combination I loved.
The only slight annoyance is the right front button band which has the button holes in it. I was using a 2 stitch icord, but the holes were too small so I made them bigger, but I should have made the icord bigger too. This means the edge is slightly distorted which is annoying.
As I was working on it last week, I didn't think I'd get to wear it any time soon as we enjoyed a mini heatwave, but the wind has turned so maybe I will. It is a bit thicker than some of my other cardigans.
I'm not sure I'd wear it into the office. It is very in your face, but I think it will work well round the house or maybe walking the dog?
I'm glad to see the back of the making of it and move on to something else. But I have a confession. While making it I couldn't help wondering what it would be like if I made it in a different colour way, and didn't keep to the strict colour pattern. I've got a bag of left over yarn from making a crochet blanket a couple of years ago and think the colours would work so well. So this evening I may well be casting that on. But I know it will take a lot longer than this one, as there are too many other projects on hold right now!
