Finished: Red Deco Cardigan

This cardigan was a year in the making. With a few months off to get to grips with motherhood (and also when the pattern threw up a new challenge), I was delighted to finally finish it.

The pattern is by Kate Davies. I have made her Manu cardigan previously and was really taken by the Art Deco-influenced style of this design. It was fairly straightforward to knit - a lot of stocking stitch, but I enjoy blocks of mindless knitting which don't require too much concentration, perfect for TV knitting. As I mentioned, the times I had a break with knitting were mainly when I had finished one section and needed to pay a bit more attention to the pattern to get my head around something new.

As with my Manu, I used the same yarn (New Lanark DK, in Cherry this time) and couldn't get gauge without going down to a smaller needle size, so I decided to knit for a 31" bust when mine is 34". This worked out fine.

 What a dorky photo!

I lengthened the body and arms by 2" - I integrated the body length increase into the waist decreases, adding 2 extra rows between decreases (5 instead of 3) and adding a few more rows after the decreases finish to make a total of about 20 extra rows. This worked well although it meant that the vertical pattern on the front didn't extend towards the waist as much as the pattern intends. I might change this if I knit it again. Here's my version on Ravelry

I wasn't a fan of the sleeve shape. Where the Manu sleeve is straight from shoulder to wrist, the Deco pattern has you decreasing down after picking up stitches around the armhole and the sleeve is ultimately wider. I decreased more stitches than the pattern required, using the width of the Manu cardigan as a guide. I prefer the more sleek, straighter shape, but the effect was not helped by my picking up too many stitches on the first armhole, so that there is excess fabric at the top of the sleeve. Blocking helped to make it look better but my sleeve tops are different sizes.

 Don't know why I'm standing at such a jaunty angle, but you can see the top of sleeve excess well, bleurgh

As directed by the pattern I sewed on grosgrain ribbon with snaps on top and then sewed the buttons on top of the button band. I hadn't tried this technique before so was happy to give it a go, although I'm not sure what the advantage of it is. I suppose it makes for a neater front of the cardigan, particularly when the cardigan is closely fitting, as this style is. I had to buy a couple of sets of clear plastic snaps as the first ones I bought (Hemline brand) were too obvious on the ribbon. The Prym set I bought looked better as their design was a bit more unobtrusive.

I was really happy to be able to use these buttons, that I got a couple of years ago in a charity shop button haul:

  

Aren't they delicious? The colour and style match the cardigan perfectly

I finished this cardigan a couple of months ago and I have been wearing it fairly frequently as it's a colour and style that fits well into my wardrobe. However I'm not completely delighted with it - I think it's the sleeve shape (plus my added mishap) that I'm not such a fan of. It feels a bit more bulky than I would like around the shoulders, which is my broadest area. This hasn't stopped me reaching for it though, and I think it will be useful in Autumn and Winter. This year I want to brighten up my cold weather wardrobe, so this the the perfect garment to add a splash of colour in dull weather.

With an unblogged needlecord skirt. Can you believe I actually ironed it before taking this photo? Doesn't look like it!

My next plan MIGHT be to make a jumper (sweater) for my husband if we can find a pattern he likes. If not, it'll be another jumper or cardigan for me. This Boreal jumper (also by Kate Davies) is blinkin' gorgeous:

I probably would get more use from a cardigan though. Or maybe I could branch out, designer-wise? I like something knitted in either DK or Aran, nothing finer as it takes too long. I'd love to know if you have any recommendations for patterns for me or my Current Husband. Speak up if you have any favourites you can recommend!

K x