It’s done!!

(warning, lot’s of pictures)

I finished it up on Friday evening, and so far this weekend this cardigan has:

• Bathed two children
• Gone canoeing
• Weeded a garden
• Planted seeds
• Done 10 loads of laundry
• Folded 5 loads of laundry (lets’ get real, I got less important things to do)
• Gone out to eat
• Cooked spaghetti sauce
• Knitted
• Been in a clubhouse
• Napped
• Mediated at least four fights between the girls
• Watched a knitting show

And now, blogged!
And let me tell you, it’s perfect!

I designed this almost two years ago to be the perfect teaching sweater. I tend to be chilly, and I wanted something that would go with lots of things but not look too “teachery”. You know, no Santas, or apples.

Through that time it spent at least 9 months in a box as we moved to Florida, and it has been the pattern most likely to be cast aside as I needed to finish things for other people.
The only thing I wish I had done was include a little shaping at the sides, but that’s minor.

So the specs:

Materials: 1 cone and a few yards of Webs “Valley Cotton” in Golden Ochre (7129). I picked it to match the stitching on jeans.

I love this yarn. It is fairly thin, I worked on #2 needles, so the final cardigan is warm, but not too heavy. The collar is worked on #4 needles to give it a bit more oomph.

Pattern: My own.

I did a cable ribbing at all the bottom edges and designed the texture in the middle. On the back I adapted a version of the tree of life. The rest I just sort of doodled until it worked. Nothing terribly original.

I am so proud though. As I did the sides I actually managed to get the design to carry around from the front to the back without looking like there is a seam.

If anyone is interested I can dig out the chart I used for the designs. The basic construction is pretty simple otherwise.

(pardon the lump on the shoulder...it's the grass, not the sweater)