Finished Object: The Svalbard Cardigan

You can tell how ambivalent I am about everything these days because I finished this thing 2 weeks ago, and I haven't bothered to take pics till now.

Here's the Svalbard cardigan:

No two ways about it, this thing does not photograph well. If you want a sweater to look cute in a photo, make sure it has waist shaping. Or wear it (which was never gonna happen what with how I look today.)

See how sweetly the ribbing mitres at the curve? That's some nice drafting...

You can see a bit more of the structure in the flat shots...

And here's that cute heart detail on the back yoke... I think you would agree, the error that cost me hours (while not gone) is not noticeable.

In the final analysis, I think this looks best on Andrea - but she swears it looks terrific on me.

Points of Interest

• I could not have altered this to fit me any better. The shape is what it is - which is to say not hourglass. I made this as small in the shoulders and arms as I could (smallest size knit on yarn of smaller gauge than called for) and that's why it's not a total freakin' tent.

• As it happens, though you can go crazy modifying the pattern any way you want: unadjusted, the sleeve width is dependent on the yoke size. The reason most people find the sleeves too large is because said sleeves are wide relative to the shoulder-width. Note: Altering the sleeves at the pick up row involves some tricky stitch pattern modification. I wouldn't do it. Since the whole garment seems to fit most people too large, I'd fix it at the get go by making a smaller size overall.

• Know the properties of your yarn. I've knitted with Chickadee before so I know that it grows a lot when you wet block it, but it rebounds. With this pattern, you do not want to work with a yarn that doesn't recover well. In fact, the sponginess of my yarn will either work to give this garment a long life of shape-constancy, or it may work against it. There's a point to be made that a very stable yarn would be good. Note: There will be impacts of this choice, if you go with a smaller size.

• I've said it before and I'll say it again: Unless you have a wide shoulders, a broad back and/or thick upper arms, you probably want to make the smallest size. Not a smaller size, the smallest. Or, if you can't bring yourself to do that, knit least 2 sizes smaller than you would normally.

• Once you get past the underarm gussets, the rest of the pattern is very simple, if not totally quick. Mind you, getting to the underarm is fucking tricky. I don't know that the end-result warrants the effort, honestly, though I'm glad I undertook this challenge. It was a very interesting knit.

• If you are short, squat, square, busty or very broad, chances are this sweater will not be the most flattering shape on you. Hey - I fall into one of those categories and I made this garment, nonetheless... And I like it, even if it's not going to be my go-to garment. It's chic with skinnies and boots.

So - what do you think? Would you make this? Would you wear it? Let's talk!