The back looks fairly good.
But there is something very wrong with the whole collar area.
This is the picture in the pattern:
Look at that lovely wide collar that gracefully flips down over her shoulders! I don't think it's possible to use these instructions and make a collar that looks like that. I looked at other people's versions of this sweater on Ravelry and they ALL have collars that look like mine. Not one is like this.
There are a couple of things going on here. The other pieces don't come very close to the neckline, so the way the collar sits means that it isn't in a good spot to fold back that far. I also just don't think it's wide enough.
The collar is knit separately by casting on a lot of stitches, knitting a bit in ribbing, doing some short-row shaping, then back to just regular ribbing until it's a certain width. This means you don't know if it fits the sweater until it's done and you sew it together. I had some trouble fitting it into my sweater. It was the right length (when slightly stretched) but the short-row part didn't really line up to the neckline correctly. I don't know if this is a gauge issue or something else.
I probably should have done what others did and pick up stitches instead of knitting it separately, but I wouldn't have known how to do the short-row shaping from that direction. (And anyhow, theirs still came out with the skimpy collars that don't fold over nearly so far.)
Other than the issues with the collar, the pattern was pretty clear and easy to follow. It's from the Winter 2011 issue of Interweave Knits (I bought the standalone pattern online.) I used Plymouth Encore Chunky Tweed and size 10.5 needles.
It seemed to be going so well, and now I feel rather disheartened by the whole thing. To make myself feel better, I bought some purple chunky yarn and started on a hat, mittens, and cowl. This is sure to give me some almost-instant gratification!
2 comments:
I'm getting ready to venture on this cardigan and found your comments through Ravelry. Thanks for making a note about the collar.... I guess I will have to keep that in mind and keep reading to see if anyone else has found a solution. Also, may I ask, which size did you make? I'm having problems deciding which one since there is a great gap between size 34 and 40 1/2! I'm somewhere in between and can't tell from the pattern if there is any positive 'ease' built in.
I made the 40" (or maybe it is 40.5"?) and had the same thought as you which is that there's a huge gap between sizes. I usually make a 36 or 38 at the most. Good luck!
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