Knitting: Lady Marple cardigan.

So...I finished this cardigan in April. Three months later, and I'm finally getting photos of it.

Compared to my first sweater, knitting this cardigan was a breeze. I started it on March 1st and finished it at the very beginning of April, though I had to wait on knitting the second button band until after I found buttons. I only had to rip back once, and that was because I thought I needed to add a couple of inches to make the sweater longer (that ended up being unnecessary, but more on that later).

The pattern, Lady Marple, was lovely (and isn't that the neatest name ever?). It's a basic enough sweater that I didn't feel super intimidated, but it had a few challenging parts that required me learn new knitting skills. Most of the sweater is stockinette, so it zips by quickly (especially in worsted weight yarn), but it has those lace panels on the front to keep things from getting too boring. :) With this sweater, I did my first three needle bind off, short row sleeve shaping (and my first non-raglan sleeves), and one row buttonholes.

My color choice was probably influenced by Call the Midwife. :) I used KnitPicks' Wool of the Andes worsted in the garnet heather colorway. I knew that I wanted wooden buttons from the beginning, and after a bit of searching I found these that I really liked at Hobby Lobby. I had to wait for them to order more, because they only had four in stock, and that delayed the finishing of my sweater a bit.

This sweater fits so much better than my first one. It's still a little big, though, mostly because it grew about three inches longer during blocking. Oops. And I don't think I stretched it...I just think that was a little quirk with my gauge that didn't show up until the yarn got soaked. So it turns out adding those extra inches was unnecessary, and now it's a little too long. Also, the sides poke out at the bottom a bit, because since the sweater grew, the hip increases don't lay exactly where they should.

I love this cardigan and I'll probably be knitting it again. I just won't be adding any extra length, especially if I use this same yarn. I only got to wear it about three times this spring before it got too warm, so I'm really excited to wear it a lot this fall. :) You can find more details on my project page.

I made this sweater in a bit of a knit-along with my friend Carolynn. I took the easy route for mine, while she did cables and colorwork, so basically my cardigan looks like a wimp compared to hers. :)

P.S. This blue t-shirt happens to be another Renfrew shirt, and my only real garment sewing of 2014 so far (pajamas don't count). I love the color and I wear this shirt a lot, though I'm not crazy about the fabric...it's some sort of blend. From now on I'll stick with cotton. Anyway, the shirt wasn't worth a whole post so I just stuck it in here.