I took this picture of my current work in progress last week when I was visiting my mom’s workshop in Copenhagen. At some point it might be a cardigan but right now it’s a pile! Yup this project is at that awkward stage where it doesn’t really look like anything but unspecified knit fabric. There are weird flaps coming off the top, messy edges waiting to be picked up and a general shapelessness in need of two sets of hands if I want to try it on. Scratch the trying on bit, holding it up in relation to my body would be more accurate, there is no structure at all.
One of my favorite things is to read peoples thoughts and notes on the projects they are working on, so I thought I’d share a bit of mine.
I initially looked at two garments for inspiration. This beautifully casual cardigan and the swing of this dolman sleeve. There is no actual pattern, instead I am working of a loose idea of a cardigan I feel like my wardrobe is missing. It is not hard finding holes in my wardrobe since most of my clothing got stolen in the Barcelona 2015 incident. I decided to knit it from the bottom up because I want drop shoulders and this just seems simplest to me. There is a slipped stitch up the back like on the first cardi I linked, I think it is one of the better ways to break up such a large piece of fabric without an actual stitch pattern. I’ve also included a basted seam at both sides, a technique I’ve been wanting to try out for a while. Structure without knitting in pieces, Yes Please!
The yarn is a very soft Merino with a bit of Elastene in it, from a cone I bought here a while back. It splits like a m… and I’ve never knit with anything this elastic, I dont think I ever will again. Calculating gauge is completely impossible, the more you knit the more it contracts… It’s just luck that I am knitting an oversized item or it would have been way too small. All those negative points aside, it is incredibly soft and knits up very evenly. I am almost done with the torso part and preparing myself for a bit of 3 needle bind off across the shoulders, can’t wait to be able to actually try it on.
Cardigan progress