finished :: the Ursula Cardigan

Estou apaixonada por este casaco. É provavelmente a peça mais bonita que tricotei até agora (eu sei que digo sempre isto, mas acho que até é um bom sinal, certo ?). E com este projecto fiquei rendida (i) ao fair isle, (ii) ao steeking e (iii) às lãs Jamieson & Smith.

O padrão: instruções detalhadas e muito precisas, como sempre (este é já o 6º projecto da Kate Davies que tricoto e continuo a ser grande fã) e tive de fazer apenas pequenas modificações:
- não faço amostras, e apesar de neste padrão a autora realçar que é muito importante medir uma amostra, arrisquei fazer o meu tamanho normal como faço sempre. Após a primeira repetição percebi que o meu stitch gauge estava perfeito, mas o row gauge era maior. Como queria um casaco ligeiramente mais comprido não seria problemático mas mesmo assim tive de omitir uma repetição para que ficasse com o comprimento pretendido. Da mesma forma nas cavas tive de tricotar menos uma repetição do que o padrão pedia.
- mangas mais compridas e finas

Depois de lavado e bloqueado a lã ficou ainda mais macia e a peça cresceu um pouco em comprimento (uns 2 cm), o que tornou o resultado final ainda melhor.

Finalmente, apenas uma pequena nota que gostaria de realçar: para o tamanho que fiz (o 2º mais pequeno) o padrão especifica que são necessários 12 novelos da cor principal. No entanto, apenas utilizei 9 (o que era exactamente o número que tinha), mesmo apesar de o ter feito um pouco mais comprido.

I'm in love with this cardigan. Seriously, this must be the nicest thing I've ever knit so far (I know, I always say that when I show a new knit, but then I guess that's a good thing right ?). And with this project I am finally a convert to (i) fair isle (ii) steeking and (iii) Jamieson & Smith yarns.

The pattern: very precise and detailed instructions, as always (this is the sixth Kate Davies pattern that I knit and I'm an even bigger fan now) and I only had to make a few changes:
- I don't swatch, and although Kate specifically says in her pattern that it's important to do so, I decided to simply go for it and knit my usual size. After the first pattern repeat I realised my stitch gauge was spot on but my row gauge was larger. Since I wanted a slightly longer cardigan this would actually not be a problem but even so I had to knit one less color repeat to make it the length I wanted. Also for the armholes I knit one less repeat than the pattern asked for.
- made sleeves longer and more snug

After washed and blocked the yarn turned even more soft and the cardigan grew a bit lengthwise (about 2 cm), which made it even better.

Finally just a small note on yardage: the size I made asked for 12 skeins. however I only used 9 (luckily that was exactly the number I had, since I used the yarn I had bought to make a Puffin Sweater), even though I made it a bit longer. Of course the fact that my gauge was off is probably the reason but I've found that on Kate's patterns I usually end up using less yarn than what's asked for.

Pattern / Padrão: Ursula Cardigan, by Kate Davies
Needles / Agulhas: 2.75 and 3.0 mm
Yarn / Fio: Jamieson & Smith 2-ply Jumper Weight
Ravelry project page here / página do project no Ravelry aqui

steeking for beginners :: the Ursula Cardigan

In the beginning of August I started knitting this cardigan. It's the Ursula Cardigan by Kate Davies, one of my favorite designers, and it's featured on her recent book Colours of Shetland. I've been knitting it almost non stop since then  (with a little break to work on some Christmas ornaments ...) and finally I was done with the main body and it was time to steek.

Now, I've never steeked before so this scared the hell out of me, and I wasn' exactly looking forward to it. I mean, who in their right senses would make holes into their knitting, especially something that took me almost 2 months to finish ? But it had to be done, so I gathered my courage and decided to go for it. I followed Kate's wonderful tutorial which really explains everything beautifully.
I decided to start with the collar, since it was the smallest steek and therefore less chances of getting it wrong. I first made my crochet  reinforcements using a sock yarn that was similar to the main color of my cardigan, as you can see here:

All the tutorials I read usually say that before your first cut you should have a glass of wine. I don't drink much wine so I decided to have this instead ...

And voilá ... it actually works !

Then I did the armholes and left the front opening till last

This is how the crochet reinforcements look after they're done

See how it's easy to see where to cut ?

After you cut your first steek, the rest don't seem so daunting...

And this is how it looks on the right side - quite neat looking

And even the reverse side doesn't look very bad.

So I did it, my first steeking project. And it was definitely worth it ! This cardigan is now blocking and I still need to sew the buttons, snaps and trims, but I should be able to post some photos this next weekend. And I very much think it's going to become a favorite :-)