Looooong striped cardigan

This is physically long and it was a long time coming. I started thinking about making a monochromatic striped sweater in July, 2019. The stripe idea came from a pattern called Elton and eventually I decided on the shape of a different pattern, Winston. Both of them are patterns for hand knitters so I had some work to do to make this by machine.

I quickly chose the yarns I wanted to use (very light weight cashmere and heavier extra fine merino, both from Colourmart but languishing in my stash) and made some swatches. The EFM was a little heavy for a standard gauge (4.5mm) machine but my Passap handled it nicely at the biggest stitch size. I knitted the cashmere at the same stitch size so the cashmere stripes are very open whereas the EFM stripes are more solid. The contrasting weights give the fabric a subtle texture.

I worked up the shapes for the pattern, using the dimensions of Winston as much as I could. The number of needles was a constraint for the back so my shoulders are not as dropped but they are plenty dropped enough I think.

Short rows!

I even incorporated the short rows from Winston. Knitting this created some technical challenges due to my having to change yarn every 4 rows. I'll spare you the details of how I accomplished this, except to say that it involved quite a few dropped stitches and some pretty creative hand-repairs. They are luckily invisible from the outside.

The cardigan is a bit longer than planned due to the weight of the pieces and the openness of the stitch size. However it is fine. I tamed the front edges with a band that I knitted to the length of my original plan (full needle rib in cashmere). I linked most of the seams on my linker but hand sewed the sleeves into the arm openings. I also attached the band by hand so I could control the amount I was easing the garment body into the band.

I'm very pleased with the finished product!