Closing In
Just a few days remain to take advantage of April showers…
brings the glorious May flowers.
Mayflowers bring pilgrims. Then the June Bugs Hay Fever…But it’s still April. I started feeling suffocated last week and am desperately in dire need of some fresh air.
Have you ever had a love-hate relationship? I do…rather a long, drawn-out, dramatic one…going back some 20 plus years…with pollen.
Such irony. ‘Cuz you know how I love nature! Absolutely.
So, my cyber friend Ms. Karen wants to know if the newly finished cardigan has sleeves. Silly girl. Of course, there are. See?
Woo hoo! Three days of intermittent knitting later, here is another waterfall-style cardigan I am smitten with.
I have a hard time capturing the true teal–it’s much richer, deeper than pictured.
Cotton Fleece by Brown Sheep (available online or in store at Twisted) is pleasant to knit up, non-splitty, and drapey. Out of 461 grams or 992 yards–4.6 skeins–I found only one tiny knot out of five skeins. It’s surprisingly comfortable to wear on a breezy, sunny day. One would sure get a load of wear out of it in spring and summer months.
Effortless, just as it’s named by Hannah Fettig…it doesn’t get any easier than this!
The instructions are clear, simple, and easy-to-follow/memorize. I only had to check the pattern when I was moving on to a different section of the body. Things just gel as you knit along.
Offering up are some of my personal insights…hopefully it will help you along the way knitting up your Effortless:
- The pattern is beautifully written.
- The schematic helps greatly when comes time for blocking. All made good sense.
- Be sure to wash, block, fully dry, and measure a swatch for gauge accuracy. I swatched in Size 9 needles but went with Size 8 needles for knitting the sweater.
- Slipped first stitch of each row for clean and easy pick-up stitches.
- Cotton Fleece is a perfect yarn for spring and summer wear. Highly recommended. However, be warned. If you choose to knit with light-shade of bamboo needles, they will be stained. Mine turned pretty light teal…nothing noticeable on my hands, so that’s good. For the first wash, soak it in vinegar bath to remove excess dyes and rinse until water runs clear.
- To duplicate this sample, pick up 70 stitches on each front panel (vertical pick-up 3 stitches out of 2 rows.) Pick up 15 stitches off top edge for each vertical ribbing (3 stitches out of 2 rows,) 54 stitches off each shoulder/sleeve, and 68 stitches off back.
- The sizing is very versatile, at least with the 34.5″ medium-size sample shown.
Here you see my friend who is 5’7″ but with broad shoulders in a swimmer…
In order to properly fit Jewel’s shoulders, I would pick up more stitches for ribbing off each shoulder/sleeve and less off back section.
Though I am 5’3″ and normally wear Adult Small, this one looks good on my petite frame. Of course, I am biased.
You may see how fitting the unfinished sweater (here) on my 5’5″ teen who wears a Woman’s Medium.
There you have it. Hope you enjoy my Effortless–Exactly to a Tee–maybe even are inspired to knit one for yourself.
Happy crafting and keep those creative juices running!
(still doesn’t do texting, MySpace, Twitter, StumbleUpon, DiggIt…but caved into Facebook!)
