Crochet Clothing Projects Part 4 - A New Cardigan for ME! :-)

First of all, I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all those who commented on my last post.  It was so great to read all your messages and I'm just thrilled that you love my daughter's cardigan!

Some of you liked it so much that you said you wished it came in adult sizes... well, some people have managed to do that... let me explain more...

It was only after finishing Rosie's cardigan that I realised the pattern was on Ravelry.  (Duh!  I should know to check there by now!)  I found out that a few other people had made the baby top kid-sized as well.  AND a few had even pushed it to adult-sized (like this one), simply by using bulky yarn and large hooks.  It looked really groovy, so that got me thinking...

Could I make one for ME?  I had enjoyed making Rosie's so much, and it looked so gorgeous on her... could the pattern be modified enough, easily?

Well, in the end, I found something even BETTER!
 

I had a browse on Ravelry at zig-zag/chevron cardigans and I found an AMAZING pattern that is FREE.  More than ONE THOUSAND projects using this pattern have been posted on Ravelry - and almost all of them RAVED about how easy and great this pattern is.  Pattern is found on this blog (check the side bar) and can be downloaded as a PDF.

So I got all excited and decided to give it a try.

I bought an enormous amount of yarn from a discount store (Crazy Clark's) at the end of winter last year.  The discount store yarn was discounted even more than usual!  In fact, I think I scooped up this collection because it was a ridiculous 70% off their normal discount price or something like that.  I think it worked out at less than $1 per 50g ball.  The yarn is 50% cotton, 50% acrylic and is lovely and soft - I am surprised by how nice it is considering the bargain price.

Anyway, amongst that stash I have about 10 balls of black.  I had no plans for this light-worsted weight, black yarn as yet, so I decided to try it with this pattern.  I hope I have enough!

So, as you can see, I have started!  Feeling very excited about this one!  The pattern works from the top down, and can be tried on as you go.  I LOVE working with this system - you can see if it's going to work out or not.  But I am still having trouble deciding when to create the arm holes.  How loose/tight they should be.  Thankfully, there is OODLES of advice out there on Ravelry (thanks, everyone!), so I'm going to take a deep breath, give it a go, and see how it pans out.

I ended up ripping out my work back a couple of rows to row 13 and attempting the join there.  Hope it's not too tight... but I also don't want it too loose... I guess it's a Goldilocks cardigan... :-)

So now I'm working my way down the body... will let you know how it goes!

(By the way, yes, I have noticed it has holes in it, so, yes, it may have similar problems to my "Shroat" in that it will be really warm but also cool (from the holes) but I am willing to take the risk based on the wonderful-ness of this pattern.  Anyway, the holes are less... hole-y... so I'm hoping it doesn't matter so much...)

Happy Easter, everyone!

Caz :)