Monday, February 22, 2016

Little Girls Like Red


In January I found this beautiful red yarn in my favorite yarn store. I loved the rich ruby red color and the feel of the yarn. It is a 100% Australian superwash Merino wool by Knit One Crochet Too, called Sebago.

Over winter break we went on a college trip for Kaefer to check out some of the colleges she had applied to. Two of the colleges are in Colorado, and while we were in Boulder we met up with our friends in Erie. Their son with his wife and little daughter were there as well. The little girl is a leap baby, born on February 29th, 2012. This year will be her first "real" birthday, and I was thinking of knitting a cardigan for her. When I asked her what her favorite color is, the answer was "red".

Only a week later I found this beautiful yarn and bought five skeins of it. Before that I had downloaded the pattern for a darling little cardigan called "wee wildflower" by the hugely talented Alana Dakos. You can find the pattern here - it is the children's version of one of the patterns in her book "Coastal Knits".


I can't say that the knitting went smoothly - this challenged me on some levels. First was that the yarn didn't run very fast with bamboo needles. After I changed to metallic needles that problem was solved - the yarn could slide easily from the needle and the knitting was much faster.

Look at the edging of the body and the arms of the cardi:


I first tried the technique for the edging on some scrap yarn - good thing I did, because I completely messed up the first time! I just didn't get the instructions until I read it all over again and tried one more time. It worked. Huge relief on my side since this was only the beginning of the entire project. What if I had been stuck that soon?


The next little challenge were the pockets. They represent a wildflower (even though that is really hard to see) and the making of the bobbles was a bit tedious. Not really difficult, though. Of course mine don't look half as nice as the ones in the pattern, but they are... unique.

Knitting up the cardigan and the arms wasn't difficult, it just took a lot of patience and time. The neck- and button bands were quickly done, although one of them is slightly crooked. However, I felt truly challenged when I had to sew the arms in the armholes. You have to know that I hate sewing, and this experience one more time let me know exactly why. I'm just not cut out for sewing.

The buttons were easy peasy of course (the only sewing I actually master) and I had found a couple of quite cute buttons at the crafts and fabric store.


I took a deep breath of relief when I had weaved in the last tail of yarn and the cardi was done. If I ever do it again I will certainly change up things a little bit. I don't think I can go through the entire procedure again. Now I just hope that the cardi will fit that little girl and won't be too small.


Did you knit anything recently?



14 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Knitting is beyond me.
I love that cardie. Just a glorious colour and design. I suspect it will be worn and worn and worn. (I would if it came in adult size and I don't wear cardiagans....)

Hindustanka said...

Hi Carola!
Such a beautiful sweater, and definitely you chose the right pattern for this yarn, the color is amazing!! The girl would love it!!!
I haven't knitted anything recently because I don't knit.. yet. Crochet is still my passion :)
Have a bright day! Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Liebe Carola, die Strickjacke ist super schön, besonders die Randeinfassung gefällt mir sehr.
Die Bubbles sehen richtig gut aus, ich habe das auch mal versucht aber …naja.
Sei lieb gegrüsst, Patricia

Monika + Bente said...

Rot ist nun nicht meine Farbe - mit Ausnahmen.
Dieser gedeckte Himbeerton (also auf meinem Schirm), der gefällt mir - und die Jacke würde ich mal wieder tragen ...

Viele Grüße - Monika

Cheri said...

It came out beautiful and I'm sure will be well loved!

Barb said...

This is definitely an heirloom. So many details - just lovely, Carola.

Magic Love Crow said...

Very, very beautiful sweater! You did an amazing job! I hope it fits her too!

Christine E-E said...

This is adorable! I'm going to be a new grandmother in June... The knit pattern, buttons, color & detail is exactly what I would look for in an heirloom sweater for my new granddaughter. Love this Carola!

Rosie Grey said...

I love the colour and the pattern is beautiful! Such a fantastic job!

Vagabonde said...

What a beautiful cardigan ! you are a gifted knitter, it really looks quite intricate to me. For my 4 grandchildren I made two or three blankets for each – bed blanket, car blanket, school blanket. My last one was 2 years ago. I do like knitting, crocheting, and embroidery and will get back to it when possible. Your little cardigan is really lovely.

Willkommen auf meiner Kreativseite. said...

Diese Farbe ist wirklich schön und das was du daraus gestrickt hast erst recht. Gefällt mir sehr diese Jacke.
Ich stricke eigentlich immer. Kann gar nicht mehr ohne Stricknadeln :-)
Zur Zeit stricke ich das Tuch Pfeilraupe.

LG
Renate

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, Carola. I wish I could shrink myself down and become one of your "special little girls"! The sweater is gorgeous and I'm sure anything you perceive as a flaw just enhances its hand-knit quality. Your story of making it reminds me of when I made a cable-knit pullover for my little daughter many (many!) years ago. It was a complex pattern of interweaving cables and popcorn stitches, and I'd never done anything but plain knit & purl knitting before. My saving grace was that it was only a toddler size 2! I have to say it turned out beautifully and I was SO proud of myself.

Darla said...

I'm impressed! That is a beautiful sweater and has some quite amazing detail. I am currently working on some plain vanilla socks. I have a lace pattern scarf/shawl just about finished but once again I found a mistake a few rows back. I stuffed it in my project bag and have been ignoring it. Of course when and if I do finish it I have to block the heck out of it - a process (mess) I don't really enjoy. Socks are my fall back when other projects drive me nuts.

JoZart Designs said...

lovely to pop in on you. I've missed you so I decided to take a peek at what you are up to and I think that little red cardigan has inspired me to start knitting again. you made it so beautifully. I was wondering if you knit the German way as when I see my DDs MIL knitting it looks so alien to me.
I'm going to Lueneburg in just over a week, by myself to see my family and look forward to also seeing everywhere bedecked with decorations for Easter. Will think of you.
Jo x