Tuesday 17 May 2016

Pretty pink cardigan

How are you today? All good I hope? Things aren't too shabby here - I've got a little pile of pretty fabric waiting to be sewn, I'm enjoying taking part in Me Made May for the first time (I'm posting my outfits on Instagram if you're interested), and at the weekend I finished and instantly wore my latest knitting project, which I'm here to show you today.


This is a combination of two patterns. In essence, it's the Regan cardigan from the Rowan Softknit Collection (which I picked up in the John Lewis sale for £2 - gotta love a bargain).

I liked the shape of the cardigan, but the whole thing is just plain stocking stitch and I fancied something a little different. I then found one of my Granny's old vintage patterns for a cardigan which looked a bit dated overall (think MASSIVE collar), but had a simple-but-effective stitch pattern. So I combined the basic Regan cardigan with the vintage stitch pattern on the front and back pieces, and this is the result.


The stitch pattern is nothing complicated - all it involves is purling every 4th stitch on the knit rows (row 1 is k1, (p1, k3) to the end, and row 3 is k3, (p1, k3) to the end). It may be simple, but I really like the almost dotty, textured effect that it produces.

I recently found The Knitting Stitch Bible in a charity shop (I told you I love a bargain!), and it has a stitch called small broken stocking stitch which is very similar, just with the purl stitches spaced slightly further apart than mine are.


The yarn I used is Beregere de France Sonora, a cotton and acrylic blend which I picked up on offer (did I mention that I love a bargain?!) from Love Knitting. I think it may have been discontinued, which is a shame because I found that it knit up really well and it's lovely to wear too. In fact, I like it so much that I'm already knitting another cardigan using a different shade of the same yarn!

The shade I used here is called Balsamine, which is a lovely pale dusky pink colour. It's getting a bit bleached out by the sun in these photos, and is definitely more pink in real life. Over the weeks that I had this sitting on my lap as I knitted, I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the dresses I was wearing it goes with - definitely a good indication that it'll get worn a lot.


I knit the cardigan in size M - I'm at the upper end of the size range and the cardigan fits me nicely with a little bit of positive ease, so it would definitely be worth thinking about sizing down if you're at the smaller end of the size range or if you like a more fitted look.

The Regan pattern is really good for a basic cardigan. I think it would be great for newbie knitters wanting to try their first garment, or equally for a nice relaxing project if you have a bit more experience.


As you've probably guessed, I'm really pleased with how this has turned out, and I'd definitely use this pattern again as a way to test out some of the other stitch patterns in The Knitting Stitch Bible. Have you got any knitting projects on the go? And do you like bargain hunting as much as I do?!

10 comments:

  1. Lovely colour and pattern. This will be really useful. It's great when you have the confidence to mix it up K xXx

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  2. I love the texture created by the stitch you used, it really does look perfect with this dress ;o)

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    1. Thank you! I love the texture too - simple but effective!

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  3. Pretty in pink! I really like the dusky shade and the subtle textured effect you've used. Well done on snapping up so many bargains too!

    Perhaps a bit of an odd question, but have you washed your cardigan yet? I'm curious about knitting garments with cotton-acrylic yarn as I sometimes find my 100% sheep wool cardis a bit too cosy, but have heard it's prone to stretching out with wear/washing.

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    1. Thank you Jo! And that's not an odd question at all! I haven't washed this one yet, but I made cardi with a cotton/bamboo mix last year - it's quite summery so it isn't in heavy rotation year-round, but it held up fine when I washed it. I think I hand washed it and then left it to dry flat and that seemed to work nicely.

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    2. That's interesting to know, thanks! I have an absolutely huge ball of Hayfield (I think) acrylic-wool mix yarn which might be enough for a cardigan. I think I'll try it out as I feel sad that my knitted cardigans feel too warm to wear now and they're the ones which look nicest with my dresses.

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  4. Looks amazing, am in awe.

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  5. Your cardigan is lovely, the stitch pattern looks brilliant. What a great idea!

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    1. Thank you Lynne! I'm glad I came up with the idea of combining the plain cardigan with the different stitch pattern!

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