At last

Some things take time. Or someone here isn't doing their part. But I have no idea who that certain someone might be.

What: Lace cardigan / Simona Merchant-Dest

How: Circular needles 2.75 mm and 3.25 mm

From: SnailYarn Merino Twist, 250 g

Let's start at the beginning. I'm pretty sure it was back in 2013 when I fell head over heels in love with a lace cardigan design. At least that's the year it was added to Ravelry's data base. Unfortunately it was part of a book and I didn't want to buy the entire book just for this one pattern.

But no worries! In 2014 a friend told me she found the pattern in a knitting magazine and was just making one for herself. Once she finished it, she sent the magazine to me along with some super cute stickers - thanks dear! (2014 - never forget!)

So it seems logical that already in 2017 I managed to cast on, doesn't it? I'm fast that way.

So I had a pattern I had been hoarding for years. Now I needed yarn. In autumn, I got a lovely present from Snail Yarn's Valentina. She wanted to thank me for using her yarn in my Utu cardigan which made the cover of Laine Magazine. One of the yarns she sent me was this lovely fingering weight Merino Twist in the colorway Pistachio. I love the mix of the light minty green with darker bits turning brown. I decided it was about time to cast on for the lace cardigan as three skeins of this yammy yarn would be enough.

The cardigan is worked top down seamlessly. It has this gorgeous cathedral lace in the back and the front, and a simpler lace that goes down the sleeves and the sides. Actually, I had waited so long to cast on the cardi that I totally forgot, I was planning to omit the lace in the sleeves. It would have made for a bit calmer overall look but now it's too late. Oh well, it looks lovely this way too.

The cathedral lace looks amazing but it took a good while to learn. I don't think I quite remembered it at any point. Also, in the beginning, the raglan increases were incorporated into the lace so you had to keep an eye on the chart all the time.

The cardigan is quite short so it'll be something to wear with skirts. The pattern didn't have any waist shaping. Instead, a bit of the lace was knitted with smaller needles just before the ribbing - I guess to make the lace narrow down a bit before the rib which will pull together anyway.

The sleeves on the cardi were more than a bit weird. They were wide enough after the raglan increases and there would still be 13+14 sts cast on at the underarm. I have thick arms but these are way too big for me. Sure, the sleeve decreases were started immediately but there's still an extra bulk of fabric at the underarms.

The pattern had cuffs that were turned and fastened on the wrong side. I thought more is more and added a picot row to the turn. I just worked a row of (k2tog, yo). I hate sewing once I'm done with knitting so I thought I could fasten the cuffs with a three needles bind off. It was a mistake as now the cuffs keep turning inside out. Luckily blocking helped somewhat.

All in all, the cardigan is really cute and I love the yarn color. And yes, I do knit manically all the time so I know I'm not lazy. It's just that sometimes I can't seem to get it out of myself to do something I've been planning for years. It baffles me. Now that the cardigan iis done, I'll give the magazine to another friend who wants to make it. Let's see how long it takes her.