Wednesday, December 24, 2008

FO: Top-down raglan cardigan


Has your stash ever spoken to you? I had five skeins of yarn that, about a month ago, spoke up loudly; they said, "Knit us now. Knit us into a simple and comfy cardigan, and do it now." I don't even know what the yarn is. Each 100-gram skein has a little tag that tells me it is 25% alpaca / 35% wool / 40% Acrylic, and that's it. I'd say it's either heavy worsted or aran weight; it has a felted texture.

I looked for a raglan pattern that would make the most of the yarn (i.e., no seaming) and decided on cosmicpluto Laura's Top-Down Raglan Cardigan. I was happy to find there was enough yarn to make a longer-than-usual sweater, for extra coziness. I used a 4.5mm needle. If you knit this pattern, I'd recommend using a smaller needle at the start to work the neckband. I found the neckband too wide and floppy, so at the end I picked off the original neck, knit a new neckband on a 4.0mm needle, and attached the new neckband with a three-needle bind off. Much better. Then, to contrast with the sea of tweedy grey, I went to my jar of vintage plastic buttons and found ten blue and green ones.


It was all pretty easy until I tried to actually take pictures of my new sweater. Tricky! There's not much light getting into the house, and it's snowing outside. But I tried my best. I took some photos in the kitchen...


...and then I went out on the back porch...



...and then I took some photos in the living room, but when I looked at those ones I realized my fly was open in all of them. Sigh! Anyway, it's a simple and comfy cardigan, and my talking yarn and I are satisfied.

Happy holidays!

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's lovely!

Happy holidays to you!

knithound brooklyn said...

TWEEDY! My favorite.
Nice sweater, I bet you wear it lots this winter.

Happy Holidays!
Lisa

Montreal Mama said...

It looks great Alison!

Miss you!

Merry Christmas, happy holidays!

Anonymous said...

When I saw the emerald green button I recognized it as a color variation of the brown ones from my grandmother's button jar. They are late 1940's/early 1950's, I believe.

Love the tweed yarn for that sweater.

As to the, er, "modeling difficulties" - you do get into the darndest complications! VBG!

Merry Christmas!

Holly said...

That's a great sweater, and I love your button choices!

Anonymous said...

What an adorable sweater! Looks great on you. I hope you, Bill and Mooky have a swell holiday.

Anonymous said...

That sweater is adorable, and I love the assortment of buttons. All very 1940s and 1950s - I think I have variations of all of those in my button jars.

Happy holidays!

melissa said...

so cute!

happy holidays to you and mooky!

Nadia said...

I love the grey tweed! I'm making a grey tweedy cardigan myself -- the Tangled Yoke. You're making me want to finish it. :)

Anonymous said...

Looking gorgeous..! I absolutely love your cardigan.

Jennifer said...

What a great cardigan! Speaking yarn usually knows what it wants to be and turns out best if you just do what it asks. Love the buttons too!

Steph VW said...

Your yarn is really nice to you! All my yarn says is, "We need more friends, buy us more friends!"

Sigh.

Love the cardigan - it looks very cozy.

Happy Holidays!

brunhilda said...

You did an awesome job on this, I love it. Now I may have to make one too....

lori said...

great cardigan! i love the coloured buttons.

Anonymous said...

Very intelligent yarn. The buttons are just perfect- love it!

Unknown said...

I love the contrast between the yarn and the buttons. Great job!

Meg said...

Sounds like just the thing to wear when it's snowing out. And I love the mismatched buttons! The perfect final touch.

spajonas said...

hahaha, that is totally a photographic mistake that i would make! my suggestion for winter indoor shots is to spend $20 on two metal clamp lights that you can buy at the hardware store. light from both sides and then adjust the camera to compensate for the extra light. i do this all the time :)

beautiful sweater and merry christmas!

Anonymous said...

merry christmas lady! the "belizean"

Anonymous said...

Your cardigan looks great. The buttons you chose compliment it well.

Anonymous said...

That turned out cute!!! Love it!!!

Seanna Lea said...

Very nice. It's cozy without looking like you couldn't wear it outside the house. I love how the buttons brighten the entire cardigan and draw the line down the middle.

Anonymous said...

Cute cardigan..! I can imagine how cozy it feels. Those buttons are looking like stars on a sky.

Teri said...

Love the cardigan and the collection of buttons! Happy New Year to you!!

Leslie said...

What a great sweater! Very wearable and cute, too. I love those turquoise buttons against the tweedy gray...perfect!

La Cabeza Grande said...

You are both talented and amusing! I love the unexpected touch of the vintage plastic buttons.

Dr. Steph said...

Great sweater!

Happy New Year (I know I'm a bit late).

Anonymous said...

oh how i love this sweater. great button choice. happy happy brainy!