Arisaig Cardigan

I cannot say enough good things about this sweater. It took a lot of work to complete and nearly destroyed my thumb muscles, but it was so worth it. The pattern is by Ysolda Teague and was published in the Fall 2005 Knitty. When I first saw it, I didn't like it at all--the photos in the original publication are so unflattering--the color's not that great and I don't think the model is wearing a bra. Yuck. Fortunately, I found it again not too long ago on Ravelry, where I can look at versions by other (bra-wearing) Ravelry users, and fell in love with it.
What makes it even better is the yarn. Colormart.com is a new discovery of mine. They sell luxury fibers, like cashmere and angora for cheap because they sell it in large quantities, mostly on cones. Their name is a little ironic because their color selection isn't that great, but this yarn was a real find. It's an angora/merino mix in the perfect shade of pastel pink. The angora makes it super soft and the merino gives it shape. Love it. I still have a little left and might have to make some gloves out of it. We'll see.

Another thing that turned me off the original pattern was that it was so short on her! I had to increase the ribbing by 4" to make it the perfect length you see here:

I also shortened the sleeves to 8" before the sleeve cap, to make it more of a spring cardigan. This decision was made last weekend, when the weather was beautiful and the temperature reached 70 degrees. This weekend, unfortunately, was back to near-winter temperatures. Boo. Here's hoping it warms up some more!

The part I did not like about the pattern is that it was knit on sizes 1 and 2 needles--the whole thing! It took forever, but in the end I have a sweater that almost looks like I bought it in a department store. Worth it.

I really should have invested in wooden size 1 needles because I am certain the metal ones were the root of my thumb pain. I plan to phase out my metal needles in the future. I've contacted some of you about them, so if you would like some, let me know by this weekend or I'm going to list them all on Amazon or the like. I want to replace them with wooden needles that are a lot easier on my hands.

In other news: I am again making progress on the Etsy project. I have (I think) some great ideas for some hats and berets that I just need to work out the final details for. So, soon! I'll keep you posted on that progress.

Cheers,

-Allie