Cardigan Dilemma

I’m back again to post, but today I have a dilemma about cardis ad am appealing to my blog readers for some guidance here. I have two cardigans that are in about the same point of completion and with the change of seasons ushering us into fall, I’m wanting a cardigan or two, preferably knitted. The Marilyn NSS cardigan is on the needles, awaiting me to work the hem on the body. I’d mentioned this in a previous post, but I’d planned to do it last Tuesday, but that was the day M’s mother passed away and thusly all my knitterly plans for that day were put aside.

After doing the hem on the NSS cardi, I will still have to do the sleeves, as well as a button band and learning to crochet a ruffle to attach to the sweater as well. The crochet part could take awhile as I have to figure that part out. Hopefully one of my girls, Cyn or Michelle could help with that part. Also, as this cardigan is top-down, well, not really fewer ends, but no seams to join together, just weaving in ends. Here’s the progress of the Marilyn NSS Cardi thus far.

Marilyn NSS Cardi progress 


Now, to the Hippy Chic cardigan from the ’02 Knit It! Magazine. This sweater and I have really gone through some changes. I worked on it for quite some time, when I lived in Dallas and was a much less experienced knitter. There were lots of pattern errors and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the pattern, until more experienced knitters advised me the pattern was wrong. After I finished the back, one front, two pockets, and both sleeves, I realized I didn’t have enough yarn to finish the second front and the collar, so that obviously presented a problem. Getting more yarn was not a possibility as it is handpainted yarn and the vendor who I bought it from, no longer uses the same makeup of yarn. The yarn I have is a merino wool, 4-ply yarn and now that vendor is no longer able to get the same yarn. It is now superwash (which takes the dye differently) and it’s a 3 ply yarn or 5 ply, I can’t recall. But the gist is she didn’t have any more of that dyelot that I bought in ’02, when I called about it in ’04. Yeah, not really so surprising and dyeing more in the same colorway with different composition of yarn wouldn’t work either, so I was screwed. Searching online for more of the same dyelot seemed to be nigh on impossible as well. Thusly, I put all the parts in a bag and forgot about it for a year, while I tried to figure out what I would do with it. My only option at that time, was to rip it out, as I didn’t want a solid yarn paired with the variegated. I was just sure that would not work. After a year’s time and I was one of my cleaning kicks, I came across the bag and decided that I loved the yarn too much and didn’t want to rip out the project, as I really loved the yarn in its current state in that project and one night, in a dream, I came up with the idea of using a solid-colored yarn. Not a monumental or even novel idea, but yet, I was ready to approach this idea, as opposed to when it was first presented to me over a year ago when I was completely against it. I went to a few yarns shops, found one that had a great selection of Cascade 220 and a great solid color in a orange color that goes with the variegated yarn, as the orange is a dominant color and I liked it better than some of the other colors. I guess I like bright, although the orange isn’t fluorescent. This sweater still needs both sleeves knitted, one front and a collar. As the cardigan has a seed stitch border all around the body and sleeves of this sweater and the body has already been done in the variegated, I plan to do the sleeves with the variegated yarn in seed stitch, and then use the solid color for the “body” of the sleeves. The sleeves also have seed stitch kind of right in the middle of the sleeve and my thought is to do that part of the seed stitch in the variegated, while the rest of the sleeve is in solid color. I’ll try it out and see how it looks. Since I love seed stitch so much (not!), when I ripped out the yarn, I even stopped right before the seed stitch, so I don’t have to redo it, I will just join in the solid color yarn. I will have to swatch with the yarn to match the gauge on the rest of the already knitted parts and of course I don’t even remember what needle size I used for the variegated, so that part will be fun!(not!), but oh well. Here’s what that sweater looks like thus far:
Hippy Chic cardigan 


I was originally going to ask you all for your thoughts as to which one I should finish first, but I’m pretty sure I’m going with the Hippy Chic, just because it’s been on the needles this long. I’m hoping that it could be done by the end of the month, we shall see.

Tonight, I'm meeting up with other knit friends,
Cathi, Joanne, Cyn and Stacey for knitting and to celebrate Michelle's birthday today! Happy Birthday Michelle! I expect to cast on for Spork tonight as well! We shall see.

Now, I'm off to seam up Donna, while listening the Gilmore Girls, and picking up stitches and working on the V-neck ribbing. Maybe I can have another FO over the weekend!