Love Affair
with luscious lace. Fun to knit.
Another cardigan down! Wait, didn’t I mention last time that it was time to stop knitting sweaters??? This makes my #12 of IntSweMoDo2012 sweater challenge. Cast on June 10 and finished on June 11. I’m beginning to think I should have joined one of those knit 30-sweaters-a-year challenges. Is there one??
I love Moch Cardi and have been tempted to make one for over a year, out of Madelinetosh Pashmina in my stash, to wear day-to-day. I like the idea of button tab and the neckline which allowed different layers of tops to show, pairing with my 80′s Beverly Hills pleated mini/tennis skirt. (Time to stuff that mini back into the cedar trunk LOL)
Knitting up a sample for Twisted serves a great rehearsal. For example, I would like a 3 or 5–instead of 4-button band for closure.
The three-quarter raglan sleeved, cropped cardi is Worked in one piece to the underarms, the body of this Shetland Trader cardigan, designed by Gudrun Johnston, and knit in Seta Tweed from Lang–transitions from simple lace, to the only boring thing–mountains of stockinette–and back to the flowing leaf-lace pattern at the yoke bodice.
Both sleeves are worked first–that’s what I chose to do–next the body worked to the underarm where the sleeves are joined and raglan shaping began.
Moch is a delightfully uncomplicated cardigan, with nary a seam in sight. Okay, I lie. There are two seams–very small ones, underside of the arms.
Gudrun’s instructions were precise, detailed, and very easy to memorize. A pretty simple design looks a lot more complicated than it was. The textured lace work is beautiful. I cruised and zipped it right along, just like the last finished tee.
While there is nothing extremely difficult, the pattern is written in a table format. Before casting on, I had to fill in appropriate numbers from the table for Size 35″. Then, there is a chart to keep track of and a button-band being worked at the same time. For non-chart knitters, please note an error on Page 6 Row 17. It should read: …sl1-k2tog-psso, k2, yo, k3 (instead of k1.) This pattern is quite long, but, you won’t need all of the pages, just those for your size.
As much as I have a strong need to personalize what I knit and a desire to make whack of modifications, I followed the instructions through most of the way with two exceptions. First, I knit the cardigan with Size 5 needles than pattern called for. The Size-6 swatch made me fear of excessive growth from the silk-cotton fabric over normal wear and time.
Most importantly, since I was a day behind committed deadline in getting the samples back to the shop, I didn’t want to have to spend gobs of time in blocking and shaping it to diagram’s specification. I love the drape and feel resulted from the decision.
Second change was in the neckline. Using Size 3 needles, I did the bind-off holding two strands of Seta Tweed. It framed the lacy edge finish with pleasing appeal and provided a sturdy, no-curl finish at the same time.
The silky Seta Tweed cotton-blend was super nice to work. The silk/cotton yarn behaved fabulously, especially in lace. A very happy knit. I’d definitely use it again. Gudrun suggested the method of spit splicing when joining yarn. Don’t, if you are using Seta Tweed. The cotton-strand is very frail. I did it in the overlap join way. I don’t recall where I learn the trick from, just that it’s how I have always done it–besides Russian back join–when marrying non-felting fiber. It’s the same way as described by TECHknitting.
Moch Cardi is the perfect fit and style to throw on over a tee shirt in the spring and fall, and great for putting on to protect against a summer night. It looks as if it is waist-flattering, doesn’t it? The boat-neck cardi is gorgeous, comfortable, and thoroughly modern. The photographs don’t do the lace or the color justice.
The sample will be displayed at Twisted in Portland tomorrow or next day.
The gorgeous new yarn and pattern are available online or at the shop on 2310 NE Broadway Street. You’ll need 7 balls (or 763 yards) to duplicate this Size 35″ sample, with an extra ball–highly recommended–in stash just to be safe.
I now need a break to work on something else–prepping for a dye-a-long on Saturday–but, can’t wait to get back to more summery sweater knitting next week. Hey, knitters. Do you knit over the summer? Not a knitter? Tell me some fun adventure(s) in your summer plan.
Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!
(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)
