Shape, size and pattern

Have decided to use the overall shape of the original pattern but change the stitch. I found this wonderful old cardi on Katie Davies’ blog, charted the stitch pattern from the pictures she shared and will try to recreate it.

Will aim for a finished bust measurement of 40-42 inches, to make sure there will be no gaping in front.

Will use ByGumByGolly’s super useful notes for her fair isle cardi as reference :) I might also pick up stitches around the armhole and do top down sleeves knitted in the round. It ought to reduce bulk considerably.

As for the steeking at the front and the armscyes I’ve read up on it and as I’m planning to make this cardi from Norwegian sticky wool I figure I’ll machine a seam down the first stitch of the steek to reinforce it, then cut off the middle part of the steek, removing all the threads. I might cast over the raw edges with a zigzag stitch, not sure yet. I think it will be enough of a seam allowance if I leave 2 of the steek stitches. That’s what most Norwegian knitters do when they make their traditional cardigans.

Another method of dealing with cut edges that seems to have become popular in Norway is to knit strips of stockinette to cover the edge from the armscyes and cast on 2 or 3 extra stitches when knitting the button bands, use the extra stitches as seam allowance, fold the seam allowance over the raw edge and stitch it down. But in my opinion it adds too much bulk, and the advantage of the sticky local wool is that strictly speaking this is not necessary.

Colours and yarn

nature
bright red
dark blue
pale blue
pale yellow/peach
white
brown/black
rusty brown
pale green

I did my best to match the colours of the original cardigan, but it was really hard to get exact matches.

Yarn: Rauma finull

Not sure how much yarn I’ll need but I reckon at least 2 skeins of the main colour, nature, and then one each of the others. Possibly more of the pale and dark blue.

Tension and colours:

3.25 needles before blocking:
7 sts per inch
7.5 rows per inch

3.25 needles after blocking:
1 pattern repeat height 3 3/4 inches
7.3 rows per inch

2 pattern repeats width 5 1/4 inches
6.8 sts per inch

The fabric grows a tiny bit in the wash.

Not crazy about the pink. Found a yellow that worked better :) Changed the dark brown to a black/brown

Sizing

Will cast on 230 sts for the ribbing and increase 37 sts for the body for a total of 267 sts. The original pattern calls for 303 sts so will use the pattern as more of a guide.

K3, (M1, k7) 4 times, (M1, k6) 28 times, (M1, k7) 4 times, M1, k3

After the ribbing I’ll cast on 9 sts for the steeks. There will be 15 pattern repeats for the torso, with one at CB, and an approximate width of 40 inches + button bands which will bring the circumference to appr. 41 inches, to make sure there will be no pulling on the knitting. In my opinion fair isle looks best if it has a little positive ease.

Torso

I’m working on the first pattern repeat and it’s turning out very well :) I think this will be a gorgeous cardigan.

Changed needles to 3.5mm after first pattern repeat as the gauge came out tighter than the sample I made.

Armscye and front slope shaping

Divide front and back
Back: 125
Front: 142

Armscye:
Do shaping each side of side marker

Row 1: Cast off 7 sts on the front side of side marker and 6 after, on the back, total of 13. Do mirror shaping on the next armscye.

Cast on 9 sts for armscye steek next round, and reduce by one stitch front and back of armscye the next 7 rounds. At the same time start the front slope shaping. Reduce by 1 st either side of front steek every other row.

Made an error and skipped the blue wavy bit in the pattern repeat after starting the armscye and front slope shaping, and although making errors of that sort isn’t something I particularly enjoy it demonstrated to me that the way I’d been doing the shaping decreases didn’t work all that well. I don’t like the slipped stitch edge that resulted from it.

Will undo the 4 rows I completed and move the shaping into the steeks, thereby avoiding the slipped stitch edge showing once the cardi has been finished. I’m actually not even miffed by the extra work :D

Steeks

After agonising for quite some time about how to finish the steeks, I decided to whip stitch the left leg of one stitch to the right leg of the neighbouring stitch, leaving one stitch in the middle to be cut away. I also machined a narrow zig zag stitch beside where the seam would go, to anchor the stitches and prevent pulling. The edges of the cut steek wants to roll inwards, which is nice. Should make the steek lie nice and snug against the interior of the cardigan.

Shoulder shaping

Doing shoulder shaping in the round so I won’t have to purl stranded, and grafting the shoulder seams. I usually don’t like grafting the shoulder seams as they see quite a bit of wear, but this time it’s the only unobtrusive way to do it. I’ll reinforce it on the inside to make sure it doesn’t stretch.

Sleeves

It looks as if the original has a total of 18 stitch increase from the end of the first pattern repeat to the 3rd. The original sleeves have been knitted in the round. Probably picked up stitches along the armscye and knitted downwards. I’ve decided to do my sleeves differently.

I’ll knit each sleeve separately, in the round, with a steek when I start the armscye shaping.

I’ll carry the colours along as I knit. I might end up kicking myself because of the mess it will make of my skeins and yarn, but I still think it will be the best way.

Will cast on 60 sts per sleeve, do 3,5 inches of ribbing and increase to 72 sts the last row of ribbing.

I’ll do increases every 7 rows until there are 100 sts on the needle and knit on until the sleeve measures 18.5 inches, at which point I’ll start the sleeve top shaping.

Cast off 13 sts at the base of the armscye, then start decreasing, 60 stitches over 60 rows. Cast off.

I’ve started the first sleeve and completed the first pattern repeat. The sleeve is just wide enough for me to comfortably wear a knitted jumper underneath the cardi without any pulling on the knitting. Very nice.

Knitting the sleeves in the round using a steek for the sleeve caps works very well. When I knit the next fair isle cardi or jumper I might try knitting the sleeves without increases, and use different needle sizes for shaping.

Started the second sleeve yesterday. Maybe I’ll be able to finish it by the end of Easter :)

Well, this was a bummer. It appears I’ve got second sleeve syndrome :(

I’ll finish off the second sleeve, and see if I can block them to match. If not I’ll have to unravel.

I tightened up my gauge and at the end there’s not that much of a difference in sleeve length. I reckon I’ll be able to sort it out when I block the cardigan.

Will fasten threads and start on the buttonband. I’m planning to stitch the button band in place before I cut the steeks.

Buttonholes

I’m planning 7 buttonholes spaced over 120 rows of moss stitch.

Cast on 12 sts,
K 4 rows, make 1 buttonhole over the next 2 rows.

Knit 18 rows, make 1 buttonhole until there are 7 buttonholes in total (123 rows).

Use a 2.75mm needle the first 38 rows, then change to 3.5mm

knit until I have completed 227 rows, this is centre neck, knit 189 more rows, change to 2.75mm needles, and knit another 38, cast off.

Done!

And it’s done! Just missing the buttons :)

One of the sleeves, the second sleeve syndrome victim, came out too loose even after blocking, so I decided to shrink it by hand felting the inside of the sleeve. I’ve done this before but it’s still nerve wrecking. If I overdo it the sleeve might end up felted on the outside.

I hand felted the entire cardigan on the inside to make the floats stick, and did the larger sleeve twice. It worked quite well. There’s still a tiny difference, but I can easily live with it.