I was knitting the Bees Knees cardigan by Thea Colman when I launched this blog site, so there are no in-progress posts, charting the changes I made to the pattern as I went. As a result this post might not be the full record of my WIP, but what can you do? The menopause fight is real folks. There is a lot of brain fog between casting on and binding off and I never keep long form notes.
Anyway, I rarely knit cardigans, because I hate doing button bands, and short row shawl collars are the devil, but I gave this one a go simply because I thought the yarn I had would really suit it, and I think I was right.
The yarn I used was Yarnsmiths Merino DK Heathers in Red Grouse from Wool Warehouse, and it is as utterly gorgeous as the photos suggest. I knit the entire body of the cardigan from the bottom up on 4mm needles, adding an extra 3 inches to the body length because I hate the shortened boxy look that designers love. The cabled section of the back neck was meant to be knit separelt and sewn to the main body, but I dont do sewing if I can help it, so I knit it on, using a 3 needle bind off the join the two halves at the back neck.
The button band and integrated shawl collar were knit on 3.75mm needles. Because I lengthened the body of the cardigan I added 7 buttons in total, instead of the 4 specified by the pattern. I got lucky with my button choice, as these vintage leather buttons were already in my button stash. One of the buttons fell off the day after I finished the cardigan, which gives you a good idea of why I don’t sew unless absolutely necessary.
I’m really proud of this cardigan. It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever made. If my next project comes out looking this good, I will officially consider myself a knitter. It’s only taken me 20 years.