Cardi Capers
What is it, that pommies have about cardigans? Rhetorical question, because I'm about to theorise at length.
1 We have been brought up to believe that the ever changing weather can best be accommodated for by carrying and if necessary, donning a cardigan. (and carrying a brolly and wearing a vest.)
2 Lord Cardigan, who invented them by turning a jumper into a cardigan by adding buttons down the front, was a time and motion expert and it has since been acknowledged that a cardi is easier to put on than a jumper. (He didn't call his invention ...THE CARDI...someone else did that.)
3 You would think that knitting one to fit would be easy-peasy because you can adjust to fit at so many stages. (and I do!)
4 A well fitting one is a pleasure to wear. It hangs at the right length. It covers other mismatches of clothes and body-figures and it mixes and matches with most of your other things AND it can be taken on and off in flash without losing your ear-rings.
5 You can move to the antipodes and live nearby in Melbourne and still need a cardi because of the 'weather patterns' (Melbourne is famous for having four seasons in one day). So you can accumulate a wardrobe of eight cardis and still believe you need another.
e.g.
It is a lovely cardi and I have finished it. It has sewn together well. Often garter stitch is a bit stretchy and doesn't hang or drape but this one is fine. It does up nicely as designated by the pattern book (Paton's 1250 Jet). I made it out of Bendigo Rustic and managed in the end to complete it with 5x200 gm balls of the 12 ply.
I had at the end some scraps for a bird's nest which I put out for the blackbirds and a small ball of 5 metres. I was so thrilled at my achievement.
But then I put it on.
I am the wrong shape for this kind of cardi. I am uncomfortable with my bulginess. I have put on 10 kilos since the chemo and am still not used to the shape I have become in the last couple of years. I shall have to be more realistic and less trendy-seeking.
I shall hang the cardi on my stall and maybe someone else will be delighted with it. I tried to take a photo to prove it but the flash blanched the image in the mirror. I showed Robert. He agreed with me. He gently asked me how disappointed I was and I said not as much as I could have been because I now know, not to knit bulky cardis in 12ply for myself and to get out and do some more exercise.
But I wonder how much I have really learned. My next major project is a CARDI. I got the pattern out of the English Women's Weekly a couple of years ago and will use some bargain Bendigo 8 ply cotton.
This one is long to start with so I don't have to do any messing about with the sizes. It does up with buttons, partially down to the bottom and I usually leave the bottom buttons undone anyway. It's a four row lacy pattern and easy to memorise and repeat and I have the 8 ply cotton in my stash.
I'm just off to knit a swatch. Not because I think the cardi will fit any better if I do, but because it will be easier to fiddle with if I know how it knits up. It came in skeins and I wound it into balls this afternoon while the "Spicy Tomato Relish" cooked.
Cheers Gillian
1 We have been brought up to believe that the ever changing weather can best be accommodated for by carrying and if necessary, donning a cardigan. (and carrying a brolly and wearing a vest.)
2 Lord Cardigan, who invented them by turning a jumper into a cardigan by adding buttons down the front, was a time and motion expert and it has since been acknowledged that a cardi is easier to put on than a jumper. (He didn't call his invention ...THE CARDI...someone else did that.)
3 You would think that knitting one to fit would be easy-peasy because you can adjust to fit at so many stages. (and I do!)
4 A well fitting one is a pleasure to wear. It hangs at the right length. It covers other mismatches of clothes and body-figures and it mixes and matches with most of your other things AND it can be taken on and off in flash without losing your ear-rings.
5 You can move to the antipodes and live nearby in Melbourne and still need a cardi because of the 'weather patterns' (Melbourne is famous for having four seasons in one day). So you can accumulate a wardrobe of eight cardis and still believe you need another.
e.g.
It is a lovely cardi and I have finished it. It has sewn together well. Often garter stitch is a bit stretchy and doesn't hang or drape but this one is fine. It does up nicely as designated by the pattern book (Paton's 1250 Jet). I made it out of Bendigo Rustic and managed in the end to complete it with 5x200 gm balls of the 12 ply.
I had at the end some scraps for a bird's nest which I put out for the blackbirds and a small ball of 5 metres. I was so thrilled at my achievement.But then I put it on.
I am the wrong shape for this kind of cardi. I am uncomfortable with my bulginess. I have put on 10 kilos since the chemo and am still not used to the shape I have become in the last couple of years. I shall have to be more realistic and less trendy-seeking.
I shall hang the cardi on my stall and maybe someone else will be delighted with it. I tried to take a photo to prove it but the flash blanched the image in the mirror. I showed Robert. He agreed with me. He gently asked me how disappointed I was and I said not as much as I could have been because I now know, not to knit bulky cardis in 12ply for myself and to get out and do some more exercise.
But I wonder how much I have really learned. My next major project is a CARDI. I got the pattern out of the English Women's Weekly a couple of years ago and will use some bargain Bendigo 8 ply cotton.
This one is long to start with so I don't have to do any messing about with the sizes. It does up with buttons, partially down to the bottom and I usually leave the bottom buttons undone anyway. It's a four row lacy pattern and easy to memorise and repeat and I have the 8 ply cotton in my stash.I'm just off to knit a swatch. Not because I think the cardi will fit any better if I do, but because it will be easier to fiddle with if I know how it knits up. It came in skeins and I wound it into balls this afternoon while the "Spicy Tomato Relish" cooked.
Cheers Gillian
posted by Gillian at
11:25 PM
6 Comments:
Oh Gillian, how awfully disappointing. Love the green cotton, though.
By
Taphophile, At
4:31 AM
That's a beautiful sweater in a lovely color. I'm so sorry it didn't work out for you. Hope this next one does the trick!
By
Becky, At
11:21 AM
Oh Gillian, it just wasnt meant to be was it. How disappointing is that when it happens. Do you know that only happens to me with the things I make for myself, though no-one else gets that problem with my handknits. Mine must be the extra weight I have put on over the years, the handknits just make it more noticeable too. I hope the next cardigan turns out okay, which I am sure it will and I love that color. I hope your swatch turns out okay.
By
Sue, At
12:24 AM
Gillian, your cardigan is absolutely gorgeous! I'm sorry that it doesn't work for you. I have trouble getting pull over sweaters (I think you call them jumpers) to fit properly because of my strange shape. I'll bet that if you hang that at your stall it will be snapped up in a heartbeat. The silvery grey yarn for your new cardigan is lovely too. Green rocks! I have to ask, what is a Pommy and what is a brolly?
By
Heide, At
8:37 PM
It is a lovely cardigan, I know what you mean about shape, I think something is going to look good on me and it doesn't, especially the new type of pattern like you knitted that does up with a slid thingy. Good luck with the cotton cardigan, the pattern looks nice too.
By
Ruby Girl, At
10:58 PM
Hello Heide, a brolly is an umbrella and pommy is the australian nickname for an english person.
Cheers Gillian
By
Gillian, At
2:47 PM
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