Saturday, March 13, 2021

Five Rectangles Cardigan

I recently finished knitting what I call my "five rectangles cardigan". It's my own design and it's basically composed of five almost-rectangular pieces - one back, two fronts, and two sleeves. I say "almost-rectangles" because the back and front pieces have shoulder shaping. The sleeves were picked up from the front and back pieces, so the only finishing work was sewing up the side and sleeve seams. I fussed a bit with various ways of slipping the border stitches on the fronts so that I would not need to add any sort of finishing band. The textured pattern is a broken rib and has a different look on each side, which gives the lapels a different texture from the front. I was aiming for an easy fitting cardigan so this fits me with a bit of ease and I didn't want any waist shaping.

I didn't want a button closure on this sweater because I figured it was a good vehicle for my 3D printed shawl pin. In the name of shameless advertising, you can find my shawlpin in my Etsy Shop. :)

The yarn for this cardi is Shepherd's Wool Worsted by Stonehedge Fiber Mill, which I love. I had purchased this yarn several years ago and as I was winding it and sometimes knitting it, I noticed that it would just break in random places. Sometimes, one or two of the plies would break leaving me a thin strand. I called the company and asked about it and they said it sounded like moths had gotten to the yarn. I store my yarn just in some wooden drawers and I didn't see any moth evidence, but they said I might not see anything. I asked my knitting friends and a few said that it has also happened to them. I don't have much of a yarn stash anyway, but from now on, I'm not waiting several years before knitting my wool yarns!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really love the broken-rib bands on this cardigan. Particularly the sleeves. The shoulder shaping seems like a very good idea here, can’t express exactly why.. Your self-designed garments tend to be my favorites, Betty, especially the red Quasi-peplum cardigan. I wish I had your skills. Started knitting way too late. Chloe

Jessica L. Smith said...
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