I simply LOVE this cardigan. The cables are beautiful, the fit is great, the details of the increases makes this cardigan a stunning and classy piece of knitwear. I am so happy to wear it and it really feels like wearing a hug.
I feel so lucky to have been trusted to testknit this cardigan.

There will be held a SODE cardigan KAL in the Thehareandthecrow group.

Cable madness cardigan, because I had to be mad to commit to testknit this aran cardigan during the hottest summer known in France and Norway. Except how would I know? What I did know was the attachment to details that Hiroko Payne has in her designs. As in all of her designs, she is very “geeky” about special knitting techniques, and there is always a reason why she chooses one designers element over another. And the knitting geek inside me love this.

This is not an easy-to-knit cabled cardigan, and if you are looking for an easy knit, please choose a raglan stockinette top-down sweater. But if you are an intermediate to advanced knitter who are into details, you like some challenge and are not afraid of knitting from charts, this is a pattern for you.

There is a huge range of sizes, and the cardigan is not simply graded adding some stitches on the same place throughout the size. Thus, the Small and the 4xL do not have the exact same fit (bust) because those body types are generally differently made.
I knit S for a 86 cm bust (S/36) and slightly broader shoulders (M/38).

About the directions of the pattern:
I strongly recommend to read through the pattern to understand the way the cardigan is build up.
Once I had a picture of what I was supposed to do, it became very clear where to put the different increases. The cardigan is knit using the top-down contiguous method, and the placement of the different types of directional increases are important.
I had to do my set up rows twice, and for me this was the most tricky part, mainly because I was not reading the pattern thoroughly, and also because I had to familiarize myself to the different increases. Once I read what was actually written (and not what I thought was written) and learned my lesson, I was good. Also, stitch markers and washi-tape are your friends.

Modifications:
Sleeves: generally knitters knit tighter on a smaller circumference, which proved to be the case for me too - I actually knit almost one sleeve before I accepted my gauge was too tight. I went up one needle size to have a more relaxed fit, and then it was perfect.
I also omitted the last decrease.

Yarn:
I quickly get tendinitis if I knit on larger needles and when I do unusual stitches, like cables and twisted stitches. Therefore, it was important to me to choose a non-sticky yarn for the gazillion number of cables in this cardigan.
I used Brigantia luxury aran, which is a British worsted spun wool with a great stitch definition. Even in aran weight, it does not feel very heavy (and there is a lot of wool and cables, so I appreciate that). It has a great luster, and I like the feeling of the wool. Despite the very hot weather when I knit this, it was still ok because it did not feel sticky to my hands, but on the contrary very dry.