It took a bit longer than planned but it’s finally finished! The Saffran Cardigan! I’ve been eyeing this pattern for a while now, but I never came round to actually knitting it. Thankfully, during the Startitis Tsunami I ended up with a lot of inspiration for new projects and the combination of Scheepjes Stone Washed and Scheepjes Spirit presented itself. A ‘solid’ (well.. as solid as it gets I guess) and a semi-solid for the snow flakes!
I’m absolutely loving the depth the semi-solid brings in this project. There’s no harsh contrast even though the colours themselves are pretty contrasting.
When I cast on I figured I’d need all of these balls of yarn, but in the end I only used 1 ball of Scheepjes Spirit. The pattern itself is very pleasant because it’s easy to memorize and there’s not a lot of counting involved. So if you’re looking for a relaxing project, this might be it!
One of the things that draws me in is steeking. I love me a good steek, man. If you’re unfamiliar with the term: “steeking” is when you knit a garment in the round and cut it open to make a cardigan instead of a sweater. Just a little reminder! If you’re going to knit this sweater with these yarns, be mindful to sew the steek with a machine instead of using a crochet hook! After all, it’s cotton and it’s not going to ‘stick’ as much as a non-superwash wool yarn!
A drawback to cardigans? Buttons and button holes. I truly detest sewing on buttons and making button holes. So as to experiment I decided to use KAM snaps this time, and let me tell you: LOVE IT! loooooove it! I’m still experimenting with this new-to-me technique, and I’m going to have to see how it works durability wise, but I think it’s already won me over.. shh!
I seriously love the effect. As a knitter I usually steer clear of cotton yarns because they tend to be less stretchy than woollen yarns. I unfortunately have fragile wrists when it comes to that and knitting with cotton makes my wrists hurt. Interestingly enough this yarn didn’t cause me any problems whatsoever! I think, when it comes to knitting cotton, I finished this project in record time (and I’m already planning the next one..). I think this is caused by the chained construction of the yarn. The yarn is not ‘massive’, but airy and consists of chained loops of very fine yarn, so it’s much stretchier than normal cotton yarns.
Surely I’m not the only one who loves the ‘wrong side’ of stranded knitting 🙂
This project was a bit of an ‘oopsie’, and went as quickly as it came in between other projects. Meanwhile, finishitis is in full effect (which I absolutely appreciate btw) and I’m slowly but surely scratching off projects that are long overdue.
There will be more soon!
