3's the charm cardigan

Hmm.  This cardigan has been re-knitted three times which is why this super bulky, supposedly super quick project has been a while on the needles.  Planned as a long line cardigan with a  belt in seed stitch, stand collar, button bands, hem and cuffs all in that same stitch.  Its not quite what was planned.

The first version was much, much too large. Knit contiguously, which is a method that never normally lets me down, I somehow managed to produce a cardigan that had 16 inches of ease in the body and sleeves so tight that it was a struggle to get my arms into them.  I was aiming for relaxed fit, but not for a knitted tent... so I unpicked it all, which only took me 20 minutes to do.. and started over.

Version two was better... that fit across the back, the sleeves were OK from bicep to wrist this time but the upper chest was massive, the sleeve caps were funny shaped and the front had about six inches of excess ease and hung strangely.  So I unpicked that one as well.  That took half an hour because I'd done that thing where you think if you knit fast enough, and far enough down the garment, it will magically improve and you won't need to un pick it.  .  Its related to the old chestnut, if you sew faster the bobbin won't run out I guess.  In any event I was only about six rows from finishing when I realised the knitting pixies weren't going to fix this whilst I slept and unpicked a virtually completed garment.

Seconds out, round Three.  Top down, raglan this time.  I figured that this would allow more control of the sleeve/body width for a mathematically challenged person such as I.  And, whilst it doesn't look like I planned exactly, its wearable this time.  It was never going to be quite how I planned it since it turns out that what I thought was a massive amount of yarn, totally wasn't, so there wasn't enough to knit the planned long line cardigan with seed stitch belt.  Instead I have produced a sort of odd length, coat-y cardigan which could be seen as slightly matronly I suppose.  I spent two days debating whether to make a shorter cardigan, but then I'd be left with yarn I couldn't use, plus I thought longer was better in terms of warmth and leg coverage, the two being inextricably related in this case. 


So, in short, happy with the colour, which I dyed myself on the hob using acid dyes.  The uneven dye job has worked out well and gives a nice effect I think.  I do love the look of the seed stitch, its very much how I envisaged it.  The collar on the third attempt is somewhat wider than I planned and certainly wider than versions one and two but it fits well enough.  I love that I could reuse these wooden buttons that came from a previous cardigan (which I knitted, then managed to shrink it the first time I washed it).  I'm pleased I have a finished garment that I can actually wear whatever its flaws.  I'm not totally sure about the length, which is neither long or short, I probably should have put in waist shaping given that I didn't have enough yarn to make the belt, but I kept knitting away, faster and faster, in the vain hope that I'd have enough yarn left for the belt.  Because knitting faster was obviously going to result in more yarn being left over for a belt.  Of course it was.