Stash-busting project. Bought this yarn to make a different cardigan, then decided I probably wouldn’t like it. Finally decided it was time to do something with the yarn, and came up with this pattern, which called for the same two yarns.

I love it, and may consider making the matching pullover (though in something more summery than alpaca). The fit is good, and the fabric is very cozy and soft. Warm without being too hot.

Modifications:

Made the body slightly longer, and added 1 set of short rows on the back just below the armholes, and two sets after the lace pattern on the yoke. Next time I’d probably do 2 sets between the hem and armholes, and 2 or 3 sets after the sleeves are joined, but before the lace pattern on the yoke.

Added an additional buttonhole just after the lace pattern on the hem, instead of having the first buttonhole start so high up.

I added one stitch in stockinette on either side of the front bands to make the front slightly bigger, and did one less set of decreases for the waist by skipping the first set of decreases, but kept the same number of increases (giving me 6 extra stitches at the bust in total). I decreased 4 of them just before the armholes, and the other two in the first yoke decrease.

The pattern calls for casting on over two needles to make sure the bottom edge is very stretchy. I tried that, but it looked really sloppy. So instead, I used the Two Needle Rolled cast-on from the Principles of Knitting (described here). Another description and great video are here. It’s a really great cast-on and looks very nice, but it takes a little practice, and it’s slow to do. Warning: you need more yarn for the tail than for a normal long-tail cast-on. Consider using separate balls of yarn for the main yarn and tail end (knot the ends together to form the starting slip knot). Then you don’t have to worry about running out, though you will have extra yarn to weave in.

Casting on for the sleeves: Since the sleeves are worked in the round, you either need to use a purl version of this cast-on, or after casting on, knit the first row flat and THEN join into the round (to work round 2), which is what I did. Then I just used the tail end of the yarn to sew up the tiny gap.