Amanda's Not-So-Shrunken Cardigan - in eggplant

Another knit is finished! I'm getting closer and closer to my 2009 goal of 6 knits for the year. This pattern is Wendy Bernard's "Marilyn's Not-So-Shrunken Cardigan". In all honesty it wasn't even on my radar to make. But then I saw Lynn's awesome pink cardigan made this past summer, and I had to have one. I already had this yarn in my extremely small stash from last year and the printed gauge was the same, so I went for it. By the way, I made this fun white blouse in January. Isn't it the perfect top for wearing under this sweater? I love the look!

The yarn is Knit Pick's Merino style 100% wool and it is super warm. I feel like I have discovered a new thing in wool sweaters. They just don't seem to sell them much in Texas, or perhaps they've been out of my price range. Anyway, I hate to be cold, even with our light southern winters, so wool sweaters are great to have on hand.

This pattern is suppose to be looser - hence the name - but I wanted something more form-fitting. I separated the sleeves from the body at 9" diagonally from the CO edge, instead of the called for 10". I just knew this would be a perfect fit. When I finally tried it on after I had done the bottom ribbing, I thought it was a bit snug. Hmmm. I guess I'll check my gauge now. Instead of getting 22 stitches per 4 inches per the pattern, I was getting 24 stitches! Duh! Totally a rookie mistake. I ended up knitting a wider button band and putting the ruffle directly on it. It was still snug, but not too bad.

And then do you know what happened?! I washed it and blocked it and the thing grew to the perfect size!!! Huh? Is this normal behavior for wool fibers? Do you knitters out there expect your wool to grow and knit sweaters smaller because of it? I'd really like to know, because while I know a lot about the behavior of fabrics, I know nothing about yarns.

Aren't these ruffles cute? Thanks, Lynn, for sharing your great modifications. I found the perfect buttons at JoAnn's. After I made both button band and buttonhole band and tried to close it, the buttons kept popping out. I had to go back with needle and thread and whip-stitch around the buttonholes for reinforcement. I'm just learning new knitting techniques left and right with this one!

I chose this purple yarn because I love the color but don't have anything like it in my closet. I also have some wonderful matching fabrics built up to make coordinating garments with, if I ever get finished with the wardrobe contest.