27 Aug 2017: Six months to get around to adding the icord ties! Ah well. It was too big and too warm for her before now anyway (and it’s still too warm). I made the ties 11” long rather than the 7.5” specified in the pattern, and I used size 9 needles (same size as the body) as I didn’t want the ties to seem too insubstantial next to the rest of the sweater.

4 Feb 2017: Finished up the body; just need to add the icord ties. I managed to mess up the selvedge on one spot, but I’m not frogging back to fix it at this point… too much to frog and redo with my limited time (and the sooner she can wear it, the better… she is growing so fast!). Bleh. Really happy with how it looks otherwise, though!

14 Jan 2017: Started first sleeve. Picked up 4 and 4 instead of 3 and 3 and then did a second decrease round using the same decrease placement/style as specified in the pattern for the (first) decrease round.

13 Jan 2017: Finished the body; bound off using Icelandic bind off. The body took almost the entirety of two skeins; I think what’s left of the second skein is enough to do the icord ties.

8 Jan 2017: Picked up stitches along raglans and began short rows. I used Cap Sease’s Knitter’s Know-How to figure out where to pick up on the garter ridges. I am using German short rows instead of W&T, so I am adjusting the number of stitches knit appropriately (i.e., I knit one stitch beyond what the pattern said to, and then I turned and made the Doppelmasche).

6 Jan 2017: Cast on 4–5 yo size using cable CO. In retrospect, I kind of wish that I had done reverse cable CO to hide the CO a bit better on the RS, but I think that in the end, this CO will be slightly more comfortable when worn as it will curl slightly to the RS and not the WS. (Yes, that is me trying to justify not ripping out and starting over, hah!)

I had originally planned to do the 3–4 yo size, but I did the 4 yo size on another Frogginette pattern (Tartelette), and it’s not far from being a bit small now (even though Miss D is only 3). I think the sizing on this one is slightly larger, if the patterns are accurate, but I always figure that a little large is better than too small!

A note on yarn, gauge, and washing: This is a superwash yarn. Others have noted that it has a tendency to grow, so after reading a lot of project notes, I decided to try a machine wash followed by a machine dry. I washed in a lingerie bag on cold using Soak in my top-loading washer. I let it soak for ~20 minutes and then did a short wash cycle on the “delicate”/lowest agitation setting. I put a Color Catcher in with it, and it definitely picked up a lot of color! I then took it out of the bag and put it in the dryer on the lowest setting. It still seemed a little oversized after a while, so I decided to try the medium-low heat setting instead; I think I had it in there for maybe 10 minutes. Success! It wasn’t quite dry, so I put it on a sweater rack. It’s right back to gauge again. It softened up a little in the wash with a little added drape, but not a lot, and I now see just a tiny bit of fuzz. I think it should be fine to machine wash and dry this going forward.

About the name: The gorgeous Teal Feather color combined with the cut of the cardigan reminds made Merida’s dress from Brave pop into my head. Since it’s being made for my own wild little girl with crazy curly red hair, I though “Brave Diana” would be a good name. :)