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A Happy Cardigan

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Despite my best efforts, I finally managed to make a cardigan. I bought this really cute yarn last year.

This is Rainbows and Airwaves from Bad Sheep Yarn. It is a gorgeous yarn, so I wanted to make a fun cardigan with it. I usually make stuff for the kids, but I wanted something for myself and all the colors made me happy. I tried knitting it first, but for some reason the stockinette came out very yellow and underwhelming. Then I tried knitting a textured stitch, but I still didn’t like it.

One of the interesting things about Bad Sheep Yarn is that the skeins are remarkably consistent. They look just like that and one skein is very similar to the other. This is quality dying – love it – but it also causes the yarn to pool a bit. So this was unraveled twice.

I finally settled on a heavily textured crochet stitch alternating skeins with each row.

This is a row id hdc followed by another row of 2 hdc, a double crochet around the post in the previous row, 4 hdc. It helped a bit with the pooling. The sleeves are hdc just for fun. I finished it with knitted rib because at the time my hand hurt too much and the rotation of the crochet hook was not fun.

And here it is, ta-da!

It still pooled a little, because the yarn is just that consistent, but I kind of love it more this way.

It is basically done. It just needs pockets. I love it!

While we are on the subject, thank you so much for all of the yarn recommendations. I ordered samples and will report on success or failure.

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Comments

  1. That’s just beautiful. I’m currently working on a Tunisian crochet knit stitch amd I hope it looks as nice as yours.

  3. gorgeous! I love the happy colors!

    I’m also impressed that you can knit AND crochet! my Mum knits, while I crochet (learned from my Grandma). We’ve tried over the years to teach each the other process and neither of us can get it!

  5. Beautiful! Love the colors too. Hope it feels like a warm hug and brings you happiness every time you wear it.

  12. I am so late to this thread – “I Crochet because murder is illegal.” I have this haging on my wall in the hallway. Cute lil dragon just one hdc at a time. My hands have been so bad for so long. I am currently having a hard time with tension and holding the yarn. I thought one of those rings would work but I can’t figure out how to use it even with the tubes instructions.

  13. Beautiful! It looks like a perfectly cozy, snuggly, cardigan. I would wear it once it had pockets. The colors make me happytoo!

  14. I learned a trick a long time ago to prevent a lot of pooling in variegated yarn since I use it more than solid color yarn. Look at the color yarn that ends the skein and then look at the color that begins a new skein. If they match, choose a different skein with a different start color.

    You may get some pooling if you use the same dye lot. If there is too much color pooling doing the suggestion above, you might want to consider a different dye lot to incorporate into your project.

    I’ve mixed different dye lots in crochet blankets and knitted sweaters. It makes for unique, interesting projects. You will have one-of-a-kind blankets, sweaters, scarves, or anything else. 🙂

  16. What a beautiful cardigan, and so happy! I missed the yarn hunt post, but I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my parents’ store, Earth Guild, has some beautiful yarn, including a line called “Dragon Tale Yarns” in sixteen different colors. Their craft store has been in business since the 1970s and won’t be around forever. I hope you find some more happy yarns there!

  19. Gorgeous!!! I love your perseverance! Sometimes you just have to keep trying until the yarn is happy too.

  22. That is just amazingly comfy looking! I would love to wear that just to feel how snuggly it is. So… my birthday is the 24th.. just saying. 🙂 <3

  24. So very pretty!!!! And snuggly. The best kind of cardigan. Just in time for our “winter”. 😍

  25. I love your cardigan and yarn! I don’t knit as much as I used to but mostly made socks and scarves. I would be intimidated by this – I am left handed and tend to knit /crochet a little differently so try to avoid a left and right side, I made fingerless gloves once and had to get help from the knit store when I made the thumb hole.
    I will check out Bad Sheep Yarn. Thanks for sharing!

  26. Pockets make everything better. My mother could knit and crochet ,she was German and learned in school. I never had the patience. I have several things she made..

  31. Have you tried Mountain Meadow Wool Mill in Buffalo, Wyoming? I live there and they have some great wool. It’s the only wool mill that sorts, washes, spins, dyes, and knits from start to finish. I don’t knit or crochet but some of my family does and they haven’t said anything bad that I am aware of about the wool.

  32. That’s really cute! Do you have any store recommendations for people sell *soft* knitted things?

  33. i turned out wonderful. and the addition of pockets will make it perfect!

    i had to look up what pooling was, i’d never heard the term before. i can see why you’d want to avoid that and would frog it twice before finding a stitch it worked with. it was worth the extra effort. thank you for sharing.

  35. I love it! Definitely a happy sweater and I would wear it all the time because it looks warm and snuggly. Might have to turn up the A/C in the summer but beauty has a price. I hope you have many happy wears.

  37. I didn’t understand any of the technical stuff, but I love the outcome. Tbh, I wouldn’t add pockets to this. I know pockets are very practical. But I think in this case, they would detract from the look. At any rate, this really is a very happy cardigan, and I hope you’ll be happy wearing it.

  42. Feb finished project!!!! All the great choices to reduce pooling paid off, looks like the perfect amount of drape and ability wrap it around yourself with some nice give! Huge congrats!!

  44. A most excellent FO. I am working on Grid Gambit cowl and it’s so FUN! Happy pink-which I rarely use is making me happy too!

  46. It’s so pretty and colorful that it actually *looks* happy!
    We could call it The Happy Jacket. 🙂
    (Note to the Universe At Large: I’d like MY straight jacket to also be this colorful, comfy, and happy…please and thank you.)
    Yes, yes, yes to all the pockets. Once it has pockets it’ll be perfect.

  51. *Clap-hands!* Very fun. I have had panels of a partially knitted sweater packed away among my knitting things for many years now. Six maybe? Six years. One day I hope to have an actual sweater.

  52. Looks GORGEOUS!! It came out so nice!! I’m working on my first cardigan now, the Andrea Mowry Big cozy Cardi. I’ve got grey tweed merino for body and green air soft for the neck part, but it’s taking sooooo long to knit but I want something for me so I must persevere!!! Also I’m a knitter not a crocheter but my fiber group swears by the tennis ball method on end of a crochet hook that helps them!

  54. I have no idea what most of the yarn terms mean in your post, but the sweater is adorable. And you’re adding pockets?! In my dreams to have this much patience and dexterity. Enjoy!

  55. Ooh, pretty! I love the colors, and I agree that the way you got them to distribute in that cardigan is beautiful.

  56. Ooooh… pretty colors!

    Absolutely unrelated question for Mod R/House Andrews that I’ve been wondering for a while now: is there a chance that a box set of Kate Daniels will be released since the main arc is complete? I’ve been thinking about buying the main series for my husband who prefers physical books to digital. We have the Arcane Society versions of Blood Heir and Iron & Magic so I’d love to have a nice hardback edition to keep consistent. Just wondering if something was on a burner somewhere to wait for.

    Hope everyone gets to enjoy a lovely Valentines’ Day!

  58. What a creative solution! And knitting the same wool more than once is very recognizable, the family teases me with it: 2x lol van dezelfde wol (twice fun with the same wool, but in English it is not as funny as in Dutch..)
    Many happy hours wearing this 🙂

  61. Bad Sheep has awesome yarns. And she has a Livestream on Thursdays (Facebood, Instagram, & YouTube) where she’ll show you how some yarns knit up, and what colors can go together nicely. Very informative and fun.

  66. Very pretty! I downloaded a cardigan pattern from Lion Brand and wasn’t satisfied with it. This I love and with pockets it’ll be perfect. I especially appreciate the addition of Knitting on the rib. Thank you

  68. Two comments:

    1) I don’t knit, but I do a lot of crafts. I always love hearing other craftspeople talk about their work.

    2) You mentioned your hands hurting before. Something I learned is to take 2 basins and fill one with water as hot as you can stand it and the other with ice water. Put your hands in one for a bit, then after a while put your hands in the other for a bit. Go back and forth several times, and when you pull your hands out they will feel better. Hope this helps.

  69. Gorgeous! I am so impressed with your yarning expertise & talent.
    I wish I could knit & crochet well. I am very crafty & artistic & can do most things in those areas well but knitting & crocheting allude me. ARGH!

  72. Lovely and oh, so fun!. Hope every time you wear it, you’re smiling, because you feel beautiful and wonderful, because you are. ❤️

  76. The cardigan is stunning! I found a pattern recently and knitted my first cardigan, it had the same edging, but was all knitted so not nearly as pretty as yours!

  77. Is there a possibility that “one” could get a pattern for this beauty? I would love to attempt to make it! 🥰

  79. That sweater’s gorgeous and wearing it would make anyone happy the entire time! Thanks for sharing your knitting/crocheting projects.

  80. You knit like I read.
    It makes us happy….
    know that your writing is as beautiful as the sweater you knitted.

  81. I recently discovered a video from Kula Cottontail Farm about why you should never stop your wife from buying yarn and it made me giggle.

  83. The sweater is gorgeous! I love the textured stitched; that cheeky little double crochet around the post in the row below makes it fun. I understand (from my own experience) about being forced into certain crafting decisions by the state of one’s hands, but the much flatter standard knit border makes the textured crochet fabric even more eye-catching IMNSHO. Well done! And thanks for sharing.

  84. It is a very happy cardigan, indeed! I’d wear it every day if I had the chance, just to uplift my spirit or the people around me. Congratulations, Ilona, you are a master knitter, too! 😘

  86. Oh that sweater turned out SO beautiful!

    I remembered you stated on one of your blogs on how difficult it is to find good gradient yarn. I remembered you liked Wendy’s Wonders. I use gradient yarn in my colorwork knitting also rather than using individual skeins for fades (hate weaving in ends).
    Have you ever used Wollelfe merino/silk yarn (https://wollelfe.at/en/merino-yarn/merino-silk-gradient-fingering/) or Freia Fibers (https://freiafibers.com/product-category/yarns-by-color/ombre/)?? They are gorgeous yarn bases with amazing colorways and soft transitions. I thought of you when I was buying my recent splurge!! 🙂