OMG. I finished it!
I started this cardigan last April and it’s taken me this long to finish it. I took advantage of my week off work over the Christmas period to get my head down and get knitting!
This is the Wool and the Gang Vivienne cardigan which I bought as a kit (pattern + wool included but no knitting needles) because I was feeling a bit hipster…
It uses their Shiny Happy Cotton yarn (which is really really lovely 100% cotton yarn) to make a simple oversized cardigan.
The knitting is really straightforward. It uses a combination of a twisted rib stitch and a garter stitch with hardly any shaping required. It’s literally two very long straight panels for the body and some slightly shaped sleeve pieces which are all sewn together.
It took me so long to make more from lack of interest than difficulty – I’ve never been a keen knitter but I like to have a transportable craft on the go for when I’m away from my sewing machine!
The end result really is VERY oversized and the sleeves are long even though I made them slightly shorter than the pattern asked for! The weight of the yarn means it stretches out quite a lot as well. To be honest I think I could have done with making it all a bit smaller though the pattern only comes in one size. I’m thinking of either using smaller needles or just reworking the whole pattern measurements if I do something like this again.
On the other hand, it is really warm and cosy! Though it does have an alarming habit of falling off my shoulders a lot.
I’m still just really proud that I managed to stick with and finish it!
Annoyingly it would’ve literally taken a tiny fraction of the time I spent knitting this to just sew something similar. BUT I guess that’s not really the point of knitting!
Now to start on that second kit I bought…
6 Comments
Just finishing a large knitting project is worthy of celebration! I think I knit several sweaters before I finally got the size and gauge all working together. My personal favorite is Fair Isle or Norwegian style, but they can be overpowering in the wardrobe!
Great job finishing it! As a regular knitter, I think it’s really more about the process – I find it so relaxing! And when I’m in desperate need of a little instant gratification, I opt for a quick sewing project 🙂
I really like the yarn, it looks very smooth and thick.
Good job on the cardigan! I’ve been wanting to knit myself one too, in a similar style but I have so many other projects to knit first (like the cardigan I started 18 months ago). By the time I get to it, I bet I’ll be over the style…
I love this, it looks so cozy. Very well done. I try and finish sweaters, and never do. I may have to try harder!
Love the cardigan; it looks wonderfully slouchy. I knit a lot and do find that cotton tends to stretch, unlike wool. If you’re interested have a look at Drops yarns which are lovely and very well priced, Norwegian I believe. I like the online retailer Wool Warehouse, which is also well priced, and Ravelry has so many patterns you can’t imagine. One of my favourite designers who I think maybe you’d like is Isabell Kraemer. Love your cardigan!