I started this in 2007, determined to finished it in 2008, but when I pulled it out and began again, I discovered to my disappointment that as soon as I’d finished the second sleeve I was on, the WS would become the RS. As my WS looked like a dog’s breakfast, this was a tragic development. I put it away again.
So, ADVICE 1 for this pattern: do remember right from the start that the WS will become the RS eventually. Anything dodgy you want to do, leave the WS well alone.
The pattern at various points says to cast off loosely. ADVICE 2: when the pattern says cast off loosely, you should cast off more loosely than you could imagine: either with a much larger sized needle and then loosely, or a couple of needles held together. This doesn’t matter so much for the cuffs of the sleeves, which, like me, you might prefer to be snug, but for the main border it is imperative.
I’m guessing that even if you are knitting a large size, this might apply, but it certainly did for the small: the pattern is very wasteful of yarn. Three of the colours use nowhere near a ball of each, and of the other two colours for my size I just started one and didn’t use the other at all. NB I was supposed to use a little of both of these, but I figured I’d leave one of the balls pristine. It didn’t matter in the least to the pattern. What does that mean? Well, maybe I could have made this full length – it still would have looked good. Or I should have done it in conjunction with somebody else so we could have shared some of the yarn. ADVICE 3: think beforehand about the options for the left-over yarn….I hate having so much yarn sitting about unused. Of course, this MIGHT only apply to the small size….
I’d never used Drops yarn before and I am really pleased with the ones purchased for this pattern. Click here for a list of retailers for this yarn. I think Australians are best off ordering from the UK now that the US exchange rate is so dismal for us.
Pattern Drops cardigan 88-25 The pattern is well-written as are all Drops patterns I’ve encountered. The colour scheme is lovely.
Yarn Drops Alpaca and Vivaldi
Modifications Almost not worth mentioning. The garment is knitted with two strands throughout, one of each type of yarn. In order not to start one of the balls of light seafoam alpaca I introduced the dark mint a few rows early for the border. Honestly, you wouldn’t even know I’d done it. Is that really mean, not wanting to start a whole ball for a couple of rows – mamma of rows as they were, around 300 stitches.
Thoughts I loved knitting this and am sorely tempted to try another in a different colour scheme.
This is supposed to be finished off with a couple of crocheted flowers. Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see.
This and That 
I love the colors. I like garn studios patterns they are very stylish and free, lol.
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This is stunning! I also love the matching pearls…
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Yeah, aren’t the pearls great? I wasn’t sure if they’d be quite the right colour for it, but actually, they are perfecto!
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