In my last post, I said I was worried I was going to lose my game of yarn chicken with this Farmhouse Cardigan, which was especially frustrating given that my whole goal was to use up what was left of this silver-grey Eco Wool. But that triggered me to remember that before I knit the Mitered Crosses Blanket, which I had been thinking of as the project that resulted in these leftovers, I had initially tried using this yarn for a crocheted blanket, and that meant I had a failed attempt at a granny-rectangle somewhere containing this yarn. I did some digging through the “craft closet” and found it, and after ripping it out, ended up with plenty of yarn to finish my sweater!
Pattern: Farmhouse Cardigan, by Amy Christoffers (not linking because as far as I can tell it’s only available on Ravelry; I bought the pattern ages ago).
Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool in color 8018 (silver grey); stashbusting!
Needles: Size 9 circulars
Time to knit: I’m not actually sure! I didn’t document it well. I first mentioned the idea in October but I’m pretty sure I didn’t start it until much later.
I don’t have a whole lot to say about the pattern, since this is now my third time making it! Clearly I like this pattern quite a bit.
Of course, I never follow this pattern exactly: I did all of my usual modifications (slightly further apart buttonholes, slipping the last stitch of each row to get a nice edge on the garter button band, double-knit pockets, and a bit of back-shaping) and they worked just as well as ever!
I had this particular Demeter Dress in mind when I made this cardigan, but I also think it will look nice over my speckly black Cleo Skirt, and also with just about any color of t-shirt underneath. Grey’s a very useful color for me!
Speaking of which, while I was waiting for this Farmhouse Cardigan to dry, I cast on for another grey sweater…
What you see there is the beginning of a Birch Pullover (pattern is from Andrea Mowry). And it actually represents what I hope will be the last yarn purchase I make for quite some time. My mind was kind of stuck on the idea of having a light grey sweater to pair with my speckly black Cleo skirt, like the Vita de Vie sweaters I pair with my green and pink/purple skirts. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to knit a third Vita de Vie. I was also having a hard time finding a *good* light grey; a lot of them were kind of oatmeal/beige-leaning and what I had in mind was more of a true light silver color. Anyway, when Andrea Mowry released her Birch Sweater, I was immediately drawn towards it; it just looked like such a nice “basic” sweater, and I could see it working nicely in a silvery grey (her sample is more of an oatmeal). One of the possible yarn substitutions she mentioned was Knitpicks Capretta, which I’d never used before, but I had literally *just* gotten an ad from Knitpicks saying that Capretta was on sale (great timing, ad!) and so I thought I’d take a look and see if they had a good grey. And they did (this is Moonstone Heather), so I got it. And I don’t regret it – it’s soft and lovely and I think this is going to be a fantastic sweater. And it’s not like I had any fingering-weight grey yarn to work with otherwise, despite my giant stash. But I really do want to focus on knitting with what I have, which is why I hope this is the last sweater-quantity of yarn I acquire for quite awhile.
whit::knits 