FO: Liesl Cardigan

 

This sweater was my quickest make to date - I completed it in 6 days! - and it was just the fun little jaunt that I needed at the time. 

This was very much a case of yarn before pattern. My stash has become ... I mean ridiculous doesn't quite encompass how much it has grown in the last year lol. I bought bunch in the Hobby Lobby clearance this spring (because they were 75% off or more) and then about a week later I was given two big Rubbermaid tubs stuffed full of amazing yarns. So exponential growth has occurred. I always like to have 1 fingering weight sweater sweater and 1 worsted weight sweater on the needles at any given time. I had been going on my Susan Shaw vintage cardigan, but I didn't have a worsted one for quite a while. Being obsessed with linen this year, I pulled out the skeins of Coton et Lin by Yarn Bee that I grabbed for so cheap in the spring clearance. Because I was buying this yarn on clearance, there were only so many skeins of each color available. At first I thought I was going to make a striped cardigan with all the colors, but I had 3 skeins in the Apple Cider colorway and I started searching for patterns that would stay within that yardage. One of the patterns that came up was the Liesl by Ysolda Teague. I've had this pattern on my list to make for years and I just never took the plunge, but to discover that I could make a full sweater with just 540 yards sealed the deal. I decided to cast on that weekend.

This pattern is a lovely feather and fan stitch design that is knit on size US 10.5 needles (the pattern called for 7mm, but I don't have that size in my set, so I just used the 6.5mm, which is size 10.5). Because the yarn and needles were so large and this was so lacy, this worked up shockingly fast. I thought I was starting an ongoing sweater project, but the pattern was so fun to knit that I finished this entire sweater in 6 days! Definitely a record for me.

I finished this so fast that I didn't even bother to think about closures. The pattern does give instructions if you want to add buttonholes, but it's kind of an optional thing so I just didn't worry about it. I decided to sew on decorative buttons and then use snaps. 

I sewed one snap under each button to obscure them, but sadly the plastic snaps I used are terrible. I need to go back and change them out with vintage metal snaps. I may also add one additional snap to close a bit further down. The buttons are just vintage random ones from my thrifted stash I've had for ages. 

While I was making this and when I first finished it, I thought I would wear this a ton through the summer. Sadly, that has not been the case. It's a great light weight sweater, for sure, but it's still just been so stinking hot here that I can't even think about wearing an extra layer. Even if it's linen. It's still worsted weight, after all. I know I will wear it a lot once it cools down and I factor sweaters back into my wardrobe rotation though.

So that's my Liesl sweater :) Unexpected in  many ways. It's the fastest I've ever made and not the overall cheapest, but it's the cheapest I've bought yarn for in a conventional store (i.e. not in a thrift store). I really love how it turned out and I would absolutely use this pattern again if I have a limited amount of worsted yarn I want to make into a sweater.

Summary:

Yarn: 3 skeins of Yarn Bee Cotton et Lin - $4.47

Pattern: Liesl by Ysolda Teague 

Notions: 2 buttons, 2 snaps - from stash

Time: 6 days

Total Cost: $ 4.47

WIP Wednesday: Vintage Knit Check In and Summer Planning

I'm not the greatest at diving into a fingering weight sweater and working on it monogamously until it's done. Fingering weight sweaters tend to be my background knits - the project I always have going that I can grab in between the gift making and other shiny things that take my fancy. Since starting this sweater on March 7th, I've knit a shawl and 2 amigurumi, finished a bolero and a different fingering weight sweater, and crocheted an amigurumi and a tote bag. Not bad, frankly, lol. But I've managed to get all those other projects finished so I've had more time to devote to knitting this up.

I knew when I started this that it would be a background item because it would take a little more brain power than I'm used to. Being a vintage pattern from the 1940s, this doesn't exactly hold your hand, and I'm adjusting the size up for myself since this was only written for a 34-36" bust, which I am not. I figured the back would be the easiest piece to start with, and so far it's looking very nice. I'm about to shape the area above the arm holes. Also I just love this yarn. Knit Picks Stroll never disappoints with me. It's so smooth and soft, I just love it, so I'm very excited to have this as a finished object.

I also managed to make my first ever actual project on the Sentro knitting machine! It's so adorable, seriously, and I will share all the particulars here soon. I just have to weave in the ends before it goes to its recipient on Saturday.

In new ideas (or at least resurrecting of older ideas), I watched a podcast yesterday about plant based fibers for summer, and it really got me thinking about the Cotton et Lin yarn I have in my stash. I picked up several skeins of coordinating colors in the Hobby Lobby clearance this spring figuring I would make a striped cardigan of some kind with them. 

I have 4 colors - 3 skeins of Apple Cider, 2 skeins of Chintz, 1 skein of Fern, and 1 skein of Rouge. I'd rather not use the Apple Cider color simply because I have enough skeins to make a separate project on its own in that color, but I'm trying to decide. These are much more muted tones than I usually go for with knitting, but I am really liking the combo together. I'm trying to make a lacy cardigan so I can get decent wear out of it in Florida. I'm thinking either the Hetty pattern by Andi Satterlund (which I've made before here) or the Liesl cardigan by Ysolda Teague, which I've always wanted to make. 

I had still have the Tierney cardigan by Andi Satterlund in this lovely Bernat Cassino I thrifted several months ago on my mind. This one feels more fall in color than the Cotton et Lin, so who knows. We will see how the mood strikes me.

What are you working on this week? Anything exciting?