Finished: Peacock Cardigan

It's always exciting to wear a knitted cardigan or sweater for the first time, after the weeks spent creating it and hoping it will turn out as you imagine. This is my latest finished knit:

Pattern

Lush cardigan by Tin Can Knits. I was searching for a cardigan in DK to suit the wool I had, and was attracted to the lace pattern, which I thought would look like peacock feathers, in combination with the colour of turquoise wool.

The pattern is not hard but I think a beginner or novice would welcome more guidance. It doesn't tell you how many buttons to use or give many measurements in the garment schematic, which I usually find helpful.

Sizing & Changes
This is a fitted design with recommendation for -1" to -3" negative ease and my measurements would put me in the XS size which seems ridiculous, quite frankly, as I am not extra small. I didn't want a cardigan that was too closely fitted, plus some of the pattern photos showed a cardigan that I felt looked a bit small on the model. After reading a Ravelry review that mentioned that the shoulders were narrow I knit the Small size and it's pretty good fit-wise.

I think I added a few rows for length. I was thinking about long sleeves but I like the 3/4 length as I think it's elegant plus I couldn't face the extra knitting

The elbow creases look really pronounced here, but they are not that obvious in real life - I think the bright light is accentuating the shadows (if that is a thing that happens)

Yarn
Charity shopped DK, 100% wool which is apparently moth-resistant - don't ask me how, but I'm very happy, having recently discovered moths in the house - waaahhhh!

What was it like to knit?
You knit the lace section first, it's knit lengthways like a long scarf and then you pick up stitches along the length of it. This design means that the lace pattern is easy to remember and not difficult to rip back if you make a mistake. The rest of the cardigan is easy, standard stockingette. It's not hard and is good easy TV knitting but I was pretty bored by the end of it

What I like
I love the lace section, the yarn colour and the length. I think the overall shape is really nice.

What I dislike
The buttonholes are quite big and could probably do with larger buttons than I used, but I think bigger buttons would look a bit jarring. I could have done with 7 instead of 6 buttons and overall they don't function particularly well and tend to pop open.

Looking at the pictures on Ravelry, the 2 cardigans on the pattern page have 9 buttons, so I obviously under-estimated somewhat! I don't know why I didn't look at the photos (my bad) but there is no guidance given in the pattern for the suggested number of buttons, like how many to buy or how many buttonholes to make. Luckily I find that just doing the top one or two up is fine, this keeps the top of the cardigan from flapping open and I'm unlikely to do all the buttons up anyway.

Bit of an crafty-blogger-cliche shot this, but I do like that it goes with my sandals

Cost

Wool -    £4.80
Pattern -  £4.88
Buttons - £3.20

Total       £12.88

Verdict
This functions really well as a Spring cardigan. It's bright and cheerful, and I think the shape is elegant. It was enjoyable to knit and is definitely a bargain, made with charity shopped wool. It's a bit irritating that the buttons won't all stay done up but I can always rip out and re-knit if it bothers me. (This is unlikely).

It got a rave review from the owner of a knitting shop I visited when on holiday, which is praise enough for me.

Now it's on with my Icelandic sweater!

K x

p.s Photos were taken in the garden of the Cotswolds holiday home we stayed in last week. We had lovely, sunny weather for most of the week and the surroundings were incredibly, ridiculously, quaint and English. This was the view from our house.