Well, well, well.
My people. After starting it as my Quarantine Project, the Boothbay Cardigan is DONE!
Check those seams, folks!
Wearing it in an Instagram Friday Introductions post.
The back—you can see the collar curling a bit.
I promise that at some point we will have a photo of me wearing it that’s full-length. I promise! :)
So, final notes:
1) The sleeves are long. I knew they would be, because my arms are like T. rex arms. So it’s nice that the cuffs have a garter stitch detail, so that when I roll the sleeves up it still “works” with the overall design and doesn’t look like Emily has rolled the sleeves of her cardigan and made the sleeves too long! (Well, I did, but I was following the pattern. So.)
One of the KnitStars 5 lessons I watched during quarantine was all about how to adjust clothing measurements to your measurements, and I’m going to use that a lot the next time I make a cardigan, and there will be a next time.
2) Picking up stitches is much easier when you’re moving vertically, rather than horizontally. At least, I find it so. So the one thing with this cardigan that I don’t like is the bottom collar. The collar for boothbay is picked up and knitted all around. When I picked up the stitches on the bottom, I must have done it wrong, because it’s a little more “cocoony” than it should be—as in, if you look at the piece as a whole the collar is an oval shape. It doesn’t really hang “open” at the bottom as much as it should. However, I realize this is a very picky thing and if I hadn’t mentioned it you might never have noticed.
3) I didn’t use all the yarn called for in this pattern. I think I had two or three skeins left over. Not a problem, because it’s always good to have extra yarn!
4) One of the things I am happiest about is my decision to size up. I wanted this cardigan to have some extra give in the arms so I could wear it over things. That also probably led to the arms being longer, but I have exactly the right amount of ease in the arms, and I can wear it over things, as seen in the photo above. That makes me really happy.
5) Knitting clothes is like an entirely new world. To knit something for you, that I can throw on and wear hen I go out to get the mail or whatever, is sort of mind-boggling. I can make clothes!
6) Like I said above, I will definitely be knitting more clothes! I have my eyes on the Lesley sweater which was in the same pattern collection as booth bay—and honestly, it should be easier because it’s only FOUR pieces as opposed to six! (I definitely like seaming.) I don’t think I’d go for the negative ease that it’s shown in. With my body I’d want a little more give around the tummy area. But we’ll see when I go to look at the schematic. I’m also looking at the Georgetown Cardigan (also from the same collection).
WHEW! OK that’s it for the cardigan! If you want to see all the posts in this series, here you go.
Onto my other knitting projects!
Patty’s blanket has been sent to her….
I’m working on the Whatever the Weather Mystery Knit Along—you could knit a scarf, a wrap, or a blanket, and I chose a wrap, using the daily highs as my temperature guide:
January and February
And I also knit an insanely fun, chunky cowl with Knit Collage yarn:
I love pairing the cowl and my cardigan together when I go out. Together they’re perfect for the late winter/early spring weather we’ve got here in Central Ohio right now:
Now that the “big” project is done, I’m in the middle of finishing some projects that have been hibernating, and working on smaller projects. For Christmas I got the Harry Potter knitting book, and I’ve decided to knit the seven horcrux washcloths, because they seemed fun and easy. I started with Ravenclaw’s Diadem. I’m not too far into the pattern yet so you can’t see the design that well, but it will come:
As for what I’m reading—I’ve been on a bit of a Chesterton kick. Part of that is reading all of the Fr. Brown stories, which I’ve actually never read, but I’m working to fill that gap!
What are you reading/creating? Let me know in the comments!