Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Tulip Cardigan

Tulip Cardigan
This sweater should not have taken almost 2 years to complete. Yes, you read that right. I kept letting it languish in the UFO pile during it's many stages. The yarn was salvaged from the beautiful Trellis Sweater from Knitty.com that I never completed. Never try to finish a heavily cabled sweater after your child is born. At least not for the first year. My brain was pretty fried from the lack of sleep, plus I was trying to knit the whole thing in one piece to avoid seaming little pieces.
Tulip Cardigan
One night, I came to the conclusion that by the time I finished it, it would never fit her. So I frogged it. Then I became obsessed with this fair isle sweater. I rummaged around and found all the colors that I would need to make it. It took me one evening to complete the yoke. The color-work was very addicting. Then during the week, I finished the body and one sleeve. There it sat for a while. The challenge and interest was gone and I was off on the next exciting project.

My memory is fuzzy about the whole thing so bear with me. At one point, I completed the 2nd sleeve and there it sat again waiting for me to pick up the stitches to make the button bands. After another long while, both bands were knit and all the yarn ends were tediously woven in. I soaked and blocked it. Now it needed buttons.
Tulip Cardigan
My friends and I planned a trip to the garment district to go button shopping. We all brought our projects to find the perfect buttons. The selection was over whelming. Thank goodness I had friends there to help. Plus, the prices really varied depending on where you went. You could end up spending more on the buttons than the cost of the yarn to make the sweater. My friend, Penelope, was ever so patient and went through a million buttons before these were chosen. It fit all the criteria: worked well with the sweater, the right size for the button holes and it did not cost a small fortune to buy 8 buttons (bought 1 extra just in case we lost one). They are really cute flower shaped buttons.
Tulip Cardigan
You would think the story ended there, but nope. I brought the buttons home and forgot about them. Fast forward to a year later. A few weeks ago, Melody found the buttonless sweater and insisted on trying it on. She instantly fell in love with it. So, I dug around the closet until I located the buttons and quickly sewed them on . She was so thrilled when I showed her the completed sweater.

Just so you all don't think I am horrible procrastinator, I knew it was too big for her a year ago. I think that's why I never felt the need to rush to finish this. But seeing her fit that sweater so perfectly a few weeks made me realize that I did need to put those buttons on so she can wear it during this Winter. I used a worsted weight yarn to make this sweater in the 6 months size. I just made sure to knit the sleeves and body longer.

Pattern: Tulip Yoke Baby Cardigan Free Ravelry Download
Needles: US 6 - 4.0 mm
Yarn: 2 skeins of Shelridge Farm Soft Touch W4 in Green Apple. I love this yarn and always try to purchase from them at Rhinebeck every year. The rest of the color-work on the yoke was knit with small partial skeins of worsted weight yarn I had laying around.
Size: She is now almost 3 yrs old and I followed the 6 months size on the pattern, but made to sure to lengthen the sleeves and body.

19 comments:

Sayschnicklefritz said...

Love it. I am now inspired to make one for the ladybug in my life. Perhaps after the 30th . . .

Vicki Knitorious said...

Almost 3!? That's crazy talk. Adorable sweater -- and it appears that she likes it!
; )

LaBean said...

Mmm. Fried Brains. Goes good with ketchup I hear. ;)

The sweater is lovely and it fits Melody just so! You did good waiting it out.. sometimes a project just needs to stew and this worked out great for you. I adore the tulip motif on the yoke..Hmm Little Beanlet is a small 7.. I wish I could fudge it and get it bigger for her. She'd love it!

Sue said...

Definately worth the wait! Melody looks absolutely adorable in it. I love the colors you chose to knit it in too. Somtimes I think it is so hard to choose buttons as it makes or breaks the sweater's final outlook doesnt it.

Mindy said...

A couple of people from my knitting group have knit this. It's so cute!

LittleCanoe said...

Aaack! It is SO amazingly cute. She looks great in it. I'm so glad you got it finished, perfect timing, I'd say. Nice work. The colorwork is great.

deebriese said...

I adore everything you do! You are such an inspiration! I cannot wait to start on my shizuku! Your daughter is adorable!

CelticCastOn said...

She looks so cute in it and those buttons are a perfect match. I just received buttons from Hong Kong that a purchased because we have no button stores here. You are lucky to have such a large selection.

AtPlayWithFiber said...

It's beautiful! I'm with you on how long it takes though. I still have a cardigan to finish for me & Briana as a WIP. :)

Rima said...

Finally! It is the sweater! She looks adorable in it. And yes, thats true--it would have been way too big a year ago.

opportunityknits said...

She's adorable! And the sweater looks so cute on her. Love the first photo. I never realised that pink looks so good with green :)
Love the story about the sweater that took nearly 2 years. But it got completed in good time and it fits perfectly :)

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

That is a gorgeous sweater, and isn't it a good thing Melody found it just in time for it to fit perfectly!

You amaze me with the quality of the work you do. It is simply beautiful

Jennie said...

Great sweater, Love the green colour =)

Anonymous said...

This is so lovely! I think you found the perfect buttons to go with it. I love hearing stories about how UFOs sit around a while but eventually get done. You should feel proud!

Anonymous said...

aww that sweater is soo darn adorable!

hetty said...

Whenever I see that precious little girl of yours, my face breaks out in a smile! I just can't help it. She is so cute! And the sweater is awesome! I love it, so adorable. Glad she found it in time to wear it.

caiming said...

love that sweater and her even more!

Hannah said...

Seriously, if it was me knitting this piece, it would have taken far more than 2 years! That's nothing to be ashamed of, and even more impressive considering that it got finished at all, really. It came out beautifully, as always. :)

Elaina said...

LOVE the sweater!! Now I want to start one, but it'll probably take me even longer to finish it. Haha. 6 mos size? Melody must be a tiny girl. Evie is pushing a size 5T...yikes....Happy New Year!