ta da!

purple cotton cardigan, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

(Apologies for the state of the bathroom mirror.)

I present, the Time Traveller cardigan. Started 6 May 2006 while watching Dr Who, finished 27 May 2006, just after Dr Who, worn to work for the first time today.

Pattern: made it up as I went along. I swatched, I measured, I knitted, I ripped, I guessed, I did maths. Jenna Wilson's Knitty articles (part 1, part 2, and especially part 3) on the maths of set-in sleeves were very useful. I ended up with a vaguely 1940s sleeve top, which wasn't quite what I was going for, but I decided to keep it and try to work out how to make my next sleeves better.

Yarn: Araucania Nature Cotton, about 650g.

Needles: 6mm straights and a 5mm crochet hook for the edging and button holes.

Notes: This was a very quick knit, even though I reknit some of the pieces several times. Nature Cotton is lovely stuff, very soft (although this does mean it sheds fluff everywhere and I expect it's going to pill). I used metal needles because they're the only 6mms I have, but I think that helped. As usual, I had to look up how to crochet and it took me several attempts to get it right, but I think I actually ended up with something that's almost an official crochet stitch, even if I can't remember if it's single or double. (I think it depends which side of the Atlantic you're on). The buttons came from the bead and button shop in the Real McCoy Arcade in Exeter.

If I knit this again, I'd add some bust shaping and improve the armscyes and sleeve cap shaping. I'm please with the result though, I have what I wanted, a v-neck cotton cardigan for summer and I've learnt a lot about making things fit in the process.