Instant Classic

    

There must be something going on with me to go through a creative block and then frantically tackle a feat as laborious as knitting a sweater. Something simple and small to ease me back in? Nah.

It took me just over three weeks, without breaking for a single day (save for blocking and drying). That's just what happens when I see a potential closet staple: I want to get it done as fast as possible in order to maximize the chances I'll get to wear it. 

This twisty number is the Must Have Cardigan by Patons, a much-loved pattern on Ravelry. I feel like contemporary knitwear trends favor smaller scale textures or none at all, and despite all that this cardigan design from 2002 looks classic and timeless. I used size US 7 needles for the body and size 5 for the ribbing, and 1258 yards of worsted weight yarn.

I've never done cables at this scale before. I found it easier than expected, not because I didn't make mistakes, but because a pattern like this obviously shows your mistakes on the very next row. If I ever knit where I should have purled, I'd notice it right away and reverse it. 

The directions on the pattern are perfectly acceptable, if a little less hand-holdy than I'd prefer as a relatively inexperienced knitter. But there wasn't any unfamiliar term I couldn't Google. There are aspects of the design itself that I'm slightly confused at. I'm not sure why it has you leave live stitches at the back of the neck on a holder instead of casting off; it seems like it could stretch out over time. I stabilized mine with a crochet slip stitch to compensate. (We're going for longevity, here). Like many other Ravelry users, I did not cast on a fewer number of stitches for the ribbing and then increase to the indicated number; I just cast on the necessary amount to begin with. I also dislike how the braided cables on the sleeve wrap down the length of the arm and meet at the seam. Don't ask me why I simply did not omit them; I'm a wee knitting-illiterate baby and I need to be told what to do.

Speaking of which: I have a newfound hatred of the picking-up-stitches step in button bands because I'm never completely sure about what I'm doing. I used my gauge for ribbing, yielding a total of 354 stitches for my button band, which looks like an insanely high number. I was picking up stitches-to-vertical rows in a nearly 1-to-1 ratio. Even though my math appeared to be sound I was still worried that it was wrong, and I couldn't check visually because the cable for my interchangeable needles was too short to lay my knitting out flat. Also, knitting 354 stitches per row absolutely sucks. It feels so endless.

I used Simply Wool Worsted in the colorway Wordsworth, described as a perfect neutral gray, but is in reality quite warm and brown-leaning. It's once again a KnitPicks purchase, which is a company whose products I have previously expressed being underwhelmed with. Nothing is outright bad. I like that this line is untreated and undyed! I didn't like that the fabric fuzzed and started to pill where I held it between my fingers (before I've worn it even once!!) To be entirely fair, it might be that it would have happened to any other yarn held under my particularly warm, sweaty, tight grip. In which case, how embarrassing for me. 

I'm posting this before I've picked out any buttons because I'm trying to get better at posting W's IP. I'm not going to document every step of the process when I make stuff, but I want to be more okay showing things that are complete enough so that people "get" it. Good enough is good enough (for social media) I think.

Update 12/29/21: Buttons attached and a photo of me wearing it! They're Dill Buttons style 1041. 

(Also the shirt underneath is yet another button-up from the same pattern I've been using. Shirts don't get individual posts anymore, sorry to my shirts).