Powdermill Cardigan

 

 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!

Evendoon Cardigan In Plum

 

After the success of my first Evendoon Cardigan I wanted to have another go.  This would give me another colour to wear and allow me to make a couple of small changes that I've thought of from wearing the first one.

This time I wanted to make the arms and body just a little longer.  And I made the ribbing at the bottom of the body a little longer too.

 

Although I think this is a very straightforward pattern, I still managed to mess it up twice and had to undo it - once where I turned half way through a row when I got distracted and put it down for a bit!  So it did take a little longer than the first.

This time I was using Stylecraft Special DK in plum - 3 balls.  And I made glass buttons in black.  The black isn't really black, but a very dark transparent purple which you'd see if you held them up to the light, but looks black here.

I'm pretty happy with it, but the real test will be in the wearing.  Roll on my next day in the office.

Evendoon Cardigan

 

This week I've been wearing my new favourate cardigan!

I started knitting Kate Davies Evendoon Cardigan just before Christmas and found it a really easy knit.  It helps that it's not the biggest either!

Once I saw how fast it was knitting up I decided to aim for a meeting I was due to attend in the actual office on 12 Feb.  Could I do it?  Yes I could.

 

On top of knitting the cardigan itself.  I also wanted to make matching buttons.  The pattern said I would need between 7 and 12, so I had to make them in batches.  

 

I have special button hole mandrals, but I only have 5.  So over January I made batches of 5 buttons each time I was in the studio.  This gave me 20 buttons, although a couple broke and some had sharp bits.  I had plenty to find my perfect 7. 

I used 3 balls of Stylecraft Special DK in Cypress and really love the colour.  My buttons are effetre glass - ivory with transparant light turquoise dots. 

 

I'm very pleased with the fit.  I was sure it would be too small, and I was worried the buttons would be too heavy.  If I make it again (and I am tempted to make some in other colours) I would make it a tiny bit longer in the body and the arms, but otherwise I'm very pleased with the fit and the buttons were perfect. I'm looking forward to my next in-person meeting already.