Tangled Yoke Cardigan
March 20th, 2010 | View Comments
Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang, from Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed in color 142 “Melody”, 6 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 5 (3.75mm) and US 4 (3.5mm)
Just in time for summer! It’s unusually chilly today in Houston, so I grabbed the opportunity to wear the finished sweater for the first and last time until December.
I promptly started sweating. But did I change? No. Instead, I opened the windows and let the 40-degree outside in.
Quick project notes:
- Yarn—I loved working with this yarn, and it’s very warm. Highly recommended
- Pattern—The pattern is very well written and easy to follow. This is my fifth Eunny pattern and I’ve come to expect nothing less from her.
- Finishing—This sweater must be blocked before wearing. There’s a lot of puckering and wrinkling around the cabled yoke when it first comes off the needles. That all evens out after a proper wet-block.
- Modifications—I lengthened both the body (and thus the button band) and the sleeves to accomodate my freakishly long torso and arms. I also narrowed the sleeves at the wrist for a more fitted look. Used 8 buttons instead of 9 for the sake of mathematical simplicity.
According to my Ravelry project page, I finished the knitting on this in February. Yes, it takes me a whole month to install a button band. This is why I made puppy eyes at my grandma the last time I had to do it.
Attempt #1
Critical errors:
- Buying the wrong width of ribbon, which meant I had to sew two strips together side-by-side.
- Buying the wrong kind of ribbon, which meant that it was a nightmare to work with.
- Not buying enough ribbon.
- Failing to measure. Twice. Actually, thrice. I first produced a button band that was much too short, and then produced two more that weren’t the same length. And then I cut the buttonholes before confirming they actually lined up with the buttons.
There was much cursing. And perhaps some wine.
Attempt #2
This time I bought proper grosgrain ribbon at the proper width from The Ribbon Retreat. Their selection and service is wonderful.
This time I decided to commit knitting blasphemy and machine-sew the button band. I had thread that perfectly matched the yarn and interior ribbon. I measured, pinned, and basted.
This time, I first marked the locations of all the buttonholes on the buttonhole band, reinforced them, and sewed the buttonhole band on.
Then I attached the button band and the buttons. After once again confirming that buttonholes and buttons lined up properly, I then I cut open the buttonholes.
Machine sewing does leave a somewhat noticeable ridge, but I still found that preferable to my hand-stitching. If I drove like I hand-sew, I’d get pulled over for Breathalyzers every mile.
The results:
Just in time for summer!
Other entries about the Tangled Yoke Cardigan:
CogKnition posted this on March 20th, 2010 @ 6:45pm in Sweaters | Permalink to "Tangled Yoke Cardigan"
cogknition
Very cute! I’ve been looking forward to this one!
Wow..it looks fantastic!! Way to go!!