FO: Shalom Cardigan

Here she is! Stashbustin’ #18 aka Shalom Caridgan finished and thanks to the husband photographed!!

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This is an awesome pattern! Just as an aside this is only written for a small/medium size or 32″ bust. My chest is a bit bigger than that so I followed the author’s suggestions and tweaked the pattern for my needs.

  1. I used a 10 1/2 US or 6.5 mm needle.
  2. I used a 7 stitch garter border by simply adding two stitches to beginning and end of each row. This added just enough to make the sweater close comfortably across the top my 37 1/2 inch bust.
  3. I worked a three stitch button opening to accommodate my larger button.
  4. I worked an extra decrease section (row 83 followed by rows 48 & 49 alternating for 7 rows) at the bottom after row 105
  5. I knit 7 rows garter bottom border in order to match the length of the collar instead of the 9 rows in the pattern.

I did dork up the garter border a bit. See my 911 post here and my fix here. But all in all I’m very happy. This will look great over a tank (as pictured) or thrown over a long sleeve tee in the fall/winter. Not sure I would re-knit this particular pattern but it’s a great addition to my wardrobe.

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Sweater 911

I was sooo happy to finish my Shalom Cardigan (Stashbustin #18) that I snapped a few quick photos with my iPhone….

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I was so happy and excited! It fit great and I had the perfect button for it….and then I found them! Did anyone notice the two glaring mistakes in my sweater above? Here is one of them….

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I totally messed up the sweater edge/ribbing. I know exactly what I did, I was on a purl row and purled row all the way across…sigh. This happened in two obvious places. I didn’t even notice until I was ALL the way done and bound off and washed/blocked.

After much brainstorming (drinking a little wine) and consulting of the online tutorials and blogs, I have settled on a solution. I have lots of yarn left over. So I am going to cut a small length and with a tapestry needle sew over the stockinette stitch to create an artificial garter ridge. So that is my mission today is to fix these oops.

Wish me luck! I hope to have a success story to share with you later….fingers crossed!!

Stashbustin’ #18: Shalom Cardigan

When I was organizing my craft space vi found five hanks of some Berroco Vintage Chunky in purple. I made my last two sweaters, Mud Season #1 and Mud Season #2, from this yarn. I love this yarn! It’s wool blend that’s soft but yet easy care. It knits up beautifully and who doesn’t love chunky projects?

I have settled on my next stash buster: Shalom Cardigan by Meghan McFarlane!

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(Photo from Meghan’s Ravelry page)

I’m terribly excited! And thanks to the tips on the pattern page I’m going to alter this a bit to fit my bust size by simply making the garter border a few stitches bigger. I’ve also been a good girl and swatches for gauge.

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I had to go down to 10 1/2 US needles to get gauge on my unblocked swatch. I’m probably not going to wash or block this swatch as I didn’t get any difference in my last two Vintage Chunky swatches. And I’m out of Soak and need a trip to a yarn store, lol.

It’s a three day weekend for me thanks to Memorial Day. I’m hoping to give this sweater some attention this weekend. But I have several other WIPs and a test knit for a new pattern by a fellow blogger. I’m also excited about this test knit, it’s completely adorable!!! And the hubs and I have several projects in our new house. Not to mention I might need to make a trip to the yarn store…hehehe. I’m sure I can get it all done right?

Happy Knitting!!

A Visit To The Frog Pond

Stashbustin’ #2 …..I want to love this project but I’m only in like with this project.

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The pattern is beautiful and the purple is lovely. I memorized the pattern but I can’t just get myself to pick up this project. I’m a process knitter and I can’t stand to work on a project I don’t love.

I am frogging the project, rewinding the skein, and returning the yarn to my stash. It’s just not meant to be, right now anyways. I’m definitely re-queuing this project on Ravelry.

I’d rather cut my losses and work on a project I love right now . Baby Girl Chevron Blanket perhaps? Or maybe I will pull the next item from my queue? Oh so many options!!

Happy Monday and Happy Knitting!