"Three" or "third time's the charm" is the theme for this blog post. My latest knitting project is the third version of the Annabel cardigan that I have knitted. (Version 1 and 2 here.) This is the third pattern that I attempted with this yarn, the first project I frogged after 3/4 of the body was complete because the neckline just wasn't looking right and the second project was a shawl that I really wanted to make, but this yarn is very springy and did not drape enough. The yarn is Osprey by Quince & Co. in the undyed color Audouin and the color Fox. I'm on a natural kick lately; it just appeals to me so much more than chemically dyed yarns, but I thought that a pop of color would be nice. I used this same yarn for the first Annabel cardigan that I made last year, which I knitted in the wrong size. When deciding what to do with these 7 skeins of wonderfully squishy natural yarn, I decided that I did like the Annabel pattern, but that I wanted to modify it a bit. (As usual.) So I made full sleeves instead of 3/4 length, I increased the length of the bottom hemline and added ribbing (I don't like cropped sweaters), and I added a splash of color with stripes on the sleeves. I really like how it turned out. It is warm without being too bulky, the size is perfect (I actually increased the arm size a bit so that it was not tight in the armpit area), and I love the stripes. The two things that I'm not thrilled with are the wide neckline and the fact that the front gapes between the button holes. I'm not sure why that is, because I'm not exactly busting out of it.
I wish that I had a better picture - the late afternoon shadows in this one are awful. However, I am either apparently a ghost and my image does not register on camera or I am too unattractive and I somehow break the camera card. Because my husband took my picture three different times - twice in wonderful morning light and then once in the snow - and when I went to process them, they had vanished from my camera card. Simply gone three times.
The buttons that I chose are 1" handmade black walnut from Wooden Buttons Galore. Rebecca happily made a custom order for me and I love them.
There has been a shift in the weather and it has been cold and windy since this weekend, weather appropriate for November in the Northeast, so I've been wearing this sweater nonstop. A comfy handknitted sweater - I think one of life's true delights.