23/07: And now, our cardigan begins.

My favourite kind of pattern - more of a formula than a strict set of instructions. And I keep looking at the Polish section and going ‘whaaaaat??’, which is great fun. :)

Have done some calculations in advance; looks like I should end up with bust 33”, upper arm 9.9” which is possibly the tiniest bit snug for me. As it’ll only require a few more stitches, I’ll probably add them under the arm, so as not to break the symmetry of the yoke.

25/07: Going strong. Yarn is nice, more give than 100% cotton, but is turning my hands blue.

Lace pattern nearly complete - ended up with 10, then 13, then 16 repeats so I only used the first chart. It is making me a little bit twitchy that they don’t line up all the way round. I think if I did it again, I’d either do it raglan style so the increases wouldn’t interfere with the pattern, or keep the 10 repeats and stretch the pattern out.

26/07: Did one more row of (k3, m1) under the pattern, then an inch of ss to get to the point of dividing the arms. Used same numbers as pattern, but have cast on 25 for the underarm - by my calculations, that should give me an inch more round the bust, and 1/2” for each arm.

30/09: Had to take a break to finish off my dissertation, but now back in the saddle. Body is now complete… my rib band is slightly less than 3” to put the bottom button in the correct place.

29/02: sudden spurt through the last remaining sleeve rows means we’re done! Put 16 buttonholes in but have no buttons. For now, putting in 8 old shirt buttons just to get it done. It’s a bit gapey, but I so rarely do up cardigans anyway, it’s not going to be a huge problem. Let’s see how long it takes me to get around to blocking. :)

06/03: Seven days. Not so bad. ;) The yarn lost a lot of dye while giving it the pre-block soak.