Quick to Knit Cardigan

At the beginning of the year I joined in with the All Things Vintage group on Ralvery for a Knit Along (KAL). We had a choice of several categories and within that several items as not everyone wanted to knit the same sweater or cardigan.

The choices for the clothing category was either a striped sweater from 1955 or a cardigan from the early 1950s. I went for the cardigan partly because I had yarn in my stash and partly because I thought that it would be easier to up-size it from a 38" bust to a 42". The tension came up slightly larger than recommended so I figured that it would work. It was meant to be 6 stitches to 1" and I got 5.

I used Sirdar Bonus Aran in a lovely lavender colour - well I think that it was bonus aran as I bought it unbanded in two 400g balls for the grand total of £4.99. Whatever it was, it worked really well producing a nice fabric that was not rigid and is just perfect for that awkward time between winter and spring.

It knits up very quickly and I really enjoyed making it despite stalling on the top of the second sleeve for near on a month. And this was the first project that I have actually had to sew up in a long time. I dreaded it but again it didn't take long and looks grand.

I chose some lovely red buttons which contrasts nicely with the purple and makes it look a bit more vintage (I think) and it's great to wear.

It might look a bit short but the style of sweaters in the early 1950s is for garments that showed off the waist so this fits perfectly into that genre of garments. I did notice that the upper art of the sleeves came out a little large but I think that was entirely from knitting it in aran weight wool rather than double knit and I'm not going to be frogging them so it is now a design feature.

It's now inspired me to knit more vintage patterns and I know that I am larger than many of them are designed for but this has given me an insight into what to watch out for net time round and I also know that I have experience of many vintage knitters should I get into a pickle.