Monday 7 December 2015

A Stripey Affair!

Well, it's been a while.  As we approach the last few weeks of 2015, I figured that if I didn't dip my toe back into the world of blog, I never would!!  So, here I am, and what better post to bring you than a neat little knitted number.  

Many months back, a fabulous customer of mine asked me to knit her a cardigan.  To my joy, it wasn't just any cardigan, it was one of the most pretty patterns I've seen in a long while, a pattern that had been on my rather long "to knit" list.

The pattern came from a Needlework Illustrated magazine from the 1930's. 


Pretty neat, don't you think?!  It was love at first sight.  The colours, the style, those sweet little buttons, I knew I had to knit it.  

The customer wanted it to be as close in colour to the original as I could make it. Luckily, Adriafil Azzura had nigh on the exact same shades, and a little colour test later, and we were sold on the design.  



When you look at the cover photo, it clearly shows that there are four base colours in wide stripes, with thin black rows and slightly thicker white, in between.  However, when I came to work from the pattern, it wasn't turning out the same.  In the pattern, the four strong colours were worked in equal thickness to the white, and the result just didn't have the same wow factor.
 

As the customer had seen the cover image with the thinner white stripe, I had to rework the pattern slightly, tweaking the thickness of the black and white rows and making it just a little bit longer in the body, for comfort.

The pattern isn't difficult, as the entire cardi is worked in rib, but the constant colour changing slowed the work down a lot.  That, and the fact that a made a mistake halfway up the back and had to re-knit it meant this one took nearly 4 months of on and off work. 
 
Thankfully the customer was unbelievably patient, which I always appreciate. 
 
Making up the jumper was a bit quicker, but oh so many ends to sew in.....
 

And the construction was different to anything I've sewn up before.  The top of the sleeve becomes the yoke, and there are two pleats in the sleeve, which take out some of the fullness and give it a neat finish.   
 


 



Crochet isn't one of my strong points, but the buttons were pretty simple to work.  Double and treble crochet worked round little button forms, they finish it off perfectly, I think.
 

 

 
 



If you fancy giving it a go, the pattern is available for sale in my Etsy shop, which she can find here. It's not a complicated pattern, it could certainly be tackled by a beginner knitter, but it does take a lot of patience running in all the ends, but it's worth it!


xx

11 comments:

  1. Oh my! What a masterpiece! That certainly is a show-stopping patter!x

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  2. what a fantastic jacket.. thank you for putting the pattern online..
    ciao ciao Christa

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  3. Wow! That jumper is gorgeous
    Julie xxxxxxxx

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  4. This is absolutely gorgeous, I love it x

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  5. Absolutely lovely! I think this will be going on my 'to knit' list too.

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  6. A simply stunning make! I wouldn't have the patience to sew in all those ends, but boy the end result is something else, so it must be worth it. :D ❤

    xox,
    bonita of Lavender & Twill

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  7. That looks absolutely stunning... so much work but what an amazing jumper to end the year on. x

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  8. It look stunning and well worth the patience to finish it. Merry Christmas and Happy New year! xx

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  9. Another knitty masterpiece, I am in love with those little crochet buttons they top it off perfectly! I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas! xx

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