OhSewCrafty Blog

Pattern: Vintage Pink Cardigan by Norah Gaughan, Spring 2005 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Valley Yarns Deerfield, Alpaca/Silk in ballet slipper pink, 5.5 spi

I spent about 3 weeks knitting this from late January through mid February. Then it sat around unblocked for ages, waiting for a bath and buttons. I finally finished it around early March and began wearing it. A lot. The durability is fine- no pilling, a little fuzzing, and tendency to grow a bit over time. I love this sweater- despite the shorter sleeves, the alpaca/silk blend really keeps me warm. The yarn is fabulous, and I had people running up to touch it when I knitted in public. The fabric is so soft, it’s like being wrapped in a cloud. The design is really cute, and I always get compliments on it, even from people who don’t know I knit. The only problem is it’s a bit on the shapeless side and I probably should have added some waist shaping. However, it does have an elegant drape. The pattern was written for sport weight yarn, and I used a dk, so I tinkered with the pattern to get the right bust size, and I had to rewrite the sleeve cap shaping to account for my larger row gauge.

My only complaint is the buttons tend to come undone especially the top one. I wear it with a safety pin holding the fronts together, inside at the top, which works. I’ve thought about seaming the front of this closed, since I never wear it open anyway, but I would still need to do something about the top button, since the neck is too small to fit over my head.