Shawl collar cardigan

This cardigan has been an on-and-off (mostly off!) knitting project for well over two years now. I've knitted other things in between, but after I finished my polo neck tank top in the autumn, I told myself that I wasn't allowed to start any other big knitting projects until this was finished. I'm adding more and more cute patterns to my to-knit list all the time and I wanted to get this finished so I could move on to something more exciting, so I'm very pleased that it's now done!

The main reason why this stayed a WIP for so long is because, truth be told, I was never completely in love with the pattern. I bought the pattern and yarn together in a kit from The Knitting Shop because the kit was reduced and a really good price and because this looked like something that my limited knitting skills could handle. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it by any means - it's a nice cosy cardi, I like the colour, and I know I'll wear it, it's just it's a bit boring and I'd probably prefer something that's a little bit more fitted than this pattern is designed to be. 

But on the plus side, I've got a new cardigan to keep me warm and I was right about it being something that my knitting skills could handle. This is all just stocking stitch with a bit of ribbing round the edges so nothing complicated at all. I think it was good for me to knit something like this that I could definitely cope with, but now I'm ready for more challenging things! And I've also learnt the lesson not to start knitting something unless I really like the pattern!

The pattern is Wendy Skye pattern 5495, and I used Wendy Skye DK yarn in Fir, which is a poly/acrylic/mohair blend. It was nice to work with, and I like the blend of colours and the effect that the yarn produces when knitted up. 

When I actually picked it up and got round to working on it, it was mostly quite quick to knit. In 2 years, I'd only managed to knit about half of the back, then I knit the rest of the back, the 2 front pieces and the arms relatively quickly over Christmas and at the start of the year. Then I hit a bit of a wall again when it came to picking up 357 stitches around the button band and collar! It was a bit of a tedious process, but the collar turned out nicely so it was all worth it in the end.

Speaking of the collar, here's a photo to prove that it does sit nicely and it's not always in the weird half-turned-up position that it's in for some of these photos. Not sure what happened there, but it started raining (again!) before I could take some more with the collar in the right position, but at least it looks nice in the close-up.

I decided that neutral buttons would work best with all the colours going on in this cardigan, and I love these cute little wooden flower buttons. I found them in Millie Moon on a recent trip to Frome. I could spend a fortune in that shop - it's very dangerous!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I'm glad this is finally finished, I like it but don't love it, and I'm now looking forward to knitting something else. I got Little Red in the City for Christmas, and I love all of the patterns in there, so my only dilemma is which to knit first - not a bad problem to have!