FO: Crazy Rainbow Cardigan

 

It's finally finished! This cardigan was a labor of love ... that I kept setting aside for other holiday projects lol. It turned out really great though, so I'm glad we finally got there.

This project started with the yarn. I got this La Bien Aimée Sock yarn second hand, so I was working with a limited amount from the beginning. I searched through patterns online for a fingering weight, fitted, cropped, set in sleeve, plain stockinette cardigan to no avail. I started looking in my pattern stash with fresh eyes of what could be changed to make it plain and landed on the Criollo by Justyna Lorkowska. This pattern had cabled ribbing as the main feature, which was easy to change, and I like her grown on set in sleeve method, so it was the winner.

The body was smooth sailing. I ran out of the first skein of yarn just after splitting for the sleeves, so I started alternating the two remaining skeins from there out. I did end up with some color pooling, but that was unavoidable in such a crazy yarn as this, so I'm fine with it. Funny that I wound up with a black hole in the middle of my back though. I tried out the cabled ribbing on the bottom, but it looked too crazy in this yarn so I just changed to 2x2 ribbing.

I didn't want to add a perpendicular line to the front of the sweater by using the variegated yarn for the button bands, so I dug in my stash and found this Valley Yarns Charlemont in Black that I used on my Emelie Cardigan years ago. It was the perfect color black and I think it worked out really well. I also changed the neck band to be 2x2 rib and added a button. I did end up reknitting one of the sleeves after this was done. I didn't like the look when I had alternated every row, so I pulled back and alternated every other row and it looks much more consistent with the rest of the sweater.

For the buttons, I came across these long neglected book shaped ones in my stash and thought, "Why not?" I bought a whole tube of these in The Sewing Studio clearance for like $2 probably 8 years ago and I've never found anything to use them on. What better time to use silly buttons than on a silly sweater? They were the right size and blend in with the black while still standing out just a bt from their shiny texture. They look much better on than I even anticipated.

So that is my crazy rainbow cardigan :) I've been wearing this a lot since finishing it and I'm honestly happier with it than I thought I would be when I started. Yay for fun surprises!

I've also made a video review of this sweater on my YouTube Channel if you want to see more particulars :) Scroll down to the bottom of this post for a direct video.

Summary:

Yarn: 2.67 skeins La Bien Aimee Sock yarn in Chihiro and No Face colorway - $45.00, 0.19 skeins Valley Yarns Charlemont in Black - Free

Pattern: Criollo by Justyna Lorkowska

Notions: 12 book buttons - $0.50

Time: 3 months

Total Cost: $45.50