This sweater has had quite the journey from wishful thinking to my currently wearing it. My cousin Alice gifted me the pattern on Ravelry for my birthday, and after a few months of finishing other projects before allowing myself to work on this I cast on. I then promptly moved to England, finished it, and then didn't feel comfortable blocking it with the record breaking mold growth in our flat. It lived safely in a ziplock bag until moving back to Philly and being able to block it. Now I finally get to wear it, just under one year from getting the pattern! Final consensus? Love it.
It was a very easy knit, perfect for watching foreign language films because it's stockinette and a lot of it. The pattern is a little less detail oriented than I like, personally, but that's just because the details are my favorite part. A lot of the other patterns I've worked with over the years have had you do something super specific or random that seems pointless at first, only to realize a few rows later it was ingeniously clever and the finished products end up looking perfectly thought out. Not so with this one. I think Hannah's patterns in general are best suited for more experienced knitters so you already know the clever tricks and can insert them where needed for a better outcome. Also, she makes some assumptions that you already know general rules about picking up stitches, etc. So, even though this sweater and the tunic I also knit by her (more on that one next week) are super easy and may seem perfect for beginners, it would be really easy turning out something that looks "homemade" rather than "handmade" with them because of the lack of detail built in. Just a word of warning for those of you starting out. For example; Jane Richmond patterns (which usually outline every detail for every size and are very specific about which increase to use, etc) may be intimidating... but when you nail it and your sweater is amazing it will give you more confidence to tweak patterns like this one later on. They also allow you to gain experience using all the different increases/decreases and finishing tricks so you actually know how a certain method will look in the end. If I hadn't knit with patterns like that before getting to Hannah Fettig's patterns my Fettig projects might have looked a mess for lack of experience.
All in all I really liked making this, it worked up really fast and it's warm and comfortable without looking too comfortable. It's good to be back in the knitting swing of things! Even taking the pictures of this was really fun… even with (or maybe because of) Db merclessly making fun of my "glamour shots" which lead to these pics of my sincere laughter. What an ass! Whatever, THIS IS WHAT I LOOK LIKE. I can't control my laughter and wear killer sweaters, welcome to my life.
Effortless by Hannah Fettig
Madelinetosh Tosh DK - Tomato
That's awesome looking cardigan! If I had one like that in my closet I would never take it off. Also, that's good to know about Hannah Fettig's patterns. They look so simple and since I'm not pro at sweaters I was contemplating knitting one. I will definitely try a few "harder" more detailed oriented one first!
ReplyDeleteThey are really simple, you just need to know a few tricks to make them look cleaner in the end. These few things will help with her patterns a lot if you want to dive in! For example, a general rule when picking up sts along the edges is pick up 3 out of every 4 rows (this is assumed in her patterns). Also, when knitting an edge that will be exposed in the final garment, like the armholes of a tank, slipping the first stitch of every row makes it looks much smoother. And lastly, when picking up for a 2x2 ribbed band (like this pattern) you pick up a number that's a multiple of four, but don't just start ribbing in {k2 p2}. The reason is you can then do your ribbing like this:
DeleteRow 1 - slip one knitwise, {k2, p2} to last three sts, k3.
Row 2 - slip on purlwise, {p2, k2} to last 3 sts, p3.
It may seem silly, but that will make your edges much nicer and hide the natural curling at the ends of ribbing. Since she doesn't specify it would be easy to blast past that and end up with a wonkier than necessary edge.
Anyways, her patterns aren't bad! If she designed a sweater you would love to wear they're the right place to start. These little details will just help you make a more pro looking sweater with them :) Also, I have been wearing this cardigan constantly! Definitely super useful and cute at the same time, when does that happen?! Good luck with whichever sweater you decide to knit!
I love how this turned out, and love the pics too. :)
ReplyDelete