Cardigan Catch-Up

Here's something I made during the blog hiatus:


It's a little cropped cardi for my Rosebud. My daughter will tell you she's a little bit of a tomboy and a little bit of a girly girl, and that's about right. She's the kid in the frilly dress crossing the monkey bars again and again. The girl with the gaudy cocktail ring on her calloused, dirty hands. It's the girly part of her that understands the need for a little white cardigan in your wardrobe, but it's the tomboy in her that led me to this combination of pattern and yarn.


Pattern: Eyelet Yoke Cardigan, a free pattern from Lion Brand. It's also called the Fresh Picked Cardigan, but it's the same pattern nonetheless.
Yarn: Cascade Sierra, white, 2 skeins

Notes: When she grew out her commercially-made little white cardigan, I knew I wanted to knit her a replacement, but I was really disappointed at the lack of patterns available for kids her size. I know I could have written a pattern, or sized down or up an existing pattern, but I was not looking for a challenge here. I just wanted to knit a cute little cardi for my girl.

Proving that I am not a complete pattern snob, I came upon this Lion Brand pattern on Ravelry. I wasn't totally thrilled with the proportions of it; the pattern calls for 3/4 sleeves, but I think they are a little too short, the sweater a bit too cropped. I realized, however, that sleeves of this length do not need to be pulled up for worm-digging expeditions, and will likely keep the sweater cleaner overall.

Knitters with children, get yourself some Cascade Sierra and make some garments for your children. It is an ideal yarn for kid knits, especially if you prefer natural fibers. It's very easy care. I wash it in the machine on the gentle cycle with cold water, and they lay it flat until it's almost dry, and then throw it in the dryer on low for about 10 minutes, and it looks great! It's an 80/20 cotton/wool blend, so it is lightweight and doesn't stretch like cotton. Having made a sweater with it before, I can attest to its durability. Mr S wears his DGE sweater quite a bit, and there is no sign on wear at all, and because of the wool, it has not stretched out of shape either. Plus, it is an amazing value -- I think I paid $12 total for this sweater. It's a great worsted yarn, really.



Still, though, I'm disappointed that there aren't many patterns for kids her age and size. There's a lot for babies and toddlers, and of course, plenty for adult women, but not a huge amount of patterns for bigger kids. Leave me a comment if you have some good pattern sources for kids -- I need them!