Update Aug. 2010 - I entered this cardigan in the Ventura Co. Fair and won 1st place!

3/22 - finished! and I love how it fits and looks! Thankfully our southern California weather has turned cooler again (40s to low 70s) so have worn it twice to work and it’s just beautiful.

Mods: the measurements for the x-small would still have been too large for me and I crochet on the loose size, so I used an E hook for the yoke down to a couple of rows before the armholes, switched to an F hook, then switched up to progessively larger hooks down through the waist, until I ended with an I hook at the hips. The sleeves were done with the F hook and I did some intermittent decreases to taper them to fit. For the body, I probably could have switched up to a larger hook sooner after completing the armhole join row - the body of the sweater will “skinny” out from the weight after you are finished with it.

3/16 took my sweater to my quilt guild meeting with me last night and got the second sleeve almost done. Really excited to get it finished, but I probably won’t have time to work on it much this week….or this coming weekend either. sigh :(

3/10 - have the body done, and 3/4 of one sleeve. It’s fitting the way I want it to, and I’m getting excited to see it almost done! I ended up using progressively larger hooks until I ended the last few rows of the body with an I hook

3/2/10 got down to bottom of waist length and realized that the weight of the sweater was going to “skinny” it up some, so frogged back to just below the armhole and redid those rows using an F hook, then switching to a G hook. I love the yarn and the pattern so much, that it’s worth it to get just the right fit. I should be done with the body by the end of the week and can start on the sleeves. Hoping to get this finished while it’s still cool enough to wear in southern California! :)

2/25/10 Started this a few weeks ago, but only now getting to be able to really work on it. Had to go down to a size E hook to hit gauge. I usually have to go down at least one hook size, but this is way more than that. However, I am attempting to get the closer fit as shown in the book, and the X-Small size would still be a tad too big - so guess I’m stuck with using the E hook (at least until I get to the hips….) It’s a top down pattern and now that I’ve gotten past the yoke, and gotten the body done to several inches past the armholes, it’s going a lot quicker. It is fitting really well, so taking the time to swatch really helped. Fairly easy to follow pattern. The NaturallyCaron Country yarn is a little splitty, but gives good stitch definition and has a lovely sheen.