FO Friday 3/15: Roosevelt Cardigan

Tarot of the 78 Doors

So, as we're talking about things we made for Christmas .... well, no, you're right, we weren't. But I was thinking about it, and that's almost the same, right ? 

Anyway. My MIL was our Secret Santa recipient this year, as you may remember, and because she is a MKWO (Member of the Knitworthy Order) I wanted to make something for her that was not only a bit spesh (as she would say) but also usable - which means for someone who can't be faffed with handwash ... squish out gently ... dry flat .... shape while damp.... all that folderol. Us normal people just want to bung it in the machine on a cool wash and have faith that what comes out will look somewhat the same as when it went in. 

This most certainly does not happen with pure wool Aran sweaters, by the way; certainly not my father's which I machine-washed and shrank so it would have fitted a 2 year old. Absolutely YONKS ago, but he has not let me live it down. In mitigation, it was well before I was a knitter and/or had paid any attention to actual informational labels in clothes.

What ? You don't like tangential ? OK .....

yep, that is a pinned piece of paper to tell me which is Right and Left

So the pattern I found was the Roosevelt Cardigan. It is brilliant - clearly written instructions for unusual construction: the pockets consist of the cables, and I loved the cabled saddle shoulders; knitted in the round, grafted underarms, short row shawl collar ... I just really liked it all.

I wasn't so keen on the yarn, Sirdar Wool Rich Aran, in the colorway 313 'Powder Blue' which to me seemed on the scratchy side even after washing and fabric conditioner; and it seemed to knit up a bit unevenly, a bit lumpy and bumpy somehow. I have 2 balls left .... 

It fits my MIL far better than it looks on me, though the sleeves are still a tad long on her. She said she was delighted, and we will accept that at face value as otherwise the heartbreak might render us into a droopy lump of depression ...

Go and see what others have achieved by popping over to ChrisKnits .....