'Korrigan' in Stylecraft Special 4-ply

For a while now I have been amassing a small collection of yarn which might possibly-one-day-be-useful-for-something-but-unsure-what... it has amassed quite well.

I had a big sort out last week and decided that of the potential options in front of me I would match up one ball of Stylecraft Special 4-ply (100g) to knit up 'Korrigan' by Solenn Couix-Loarer.  The pattern is really great!  The cardigan feature a yoke-neck with disappearing cables, three buttons to close at the top, giving a slight flare (over nappy-bums) to an otherwise simple stocking stitch body.  Big thumbs up for yoke-neck and top-down design.  Korrigan may be tricky for new knitters as the instructions assume a certain level of understanding, as well as ability to work cables etc. 

I knitted this with the instructions for size 6mths and it used about 70g of yarn.  As this is a cheap acrylic yarn, it is a very economical, but pretty, option.  The yarn is one of the better acrylic options that I have come across, with a very soft, malleable texture.  Nice to knit a baby item in something that is so definitely machine-washable too.  The main limitation of this yarn are the colours (in my view); despite a range of 16 shades, I would probably only use 'Lipstick'.  The tension more-or-less works to 28 stitches and 36 rows (= 4inches) when worked on 3.25mm needles.  However, I think my final cardigan is still a little small for a 6 month old.  Without doubt it would be a pleasure to knit the same pattern in something more luxurious, like the recommended Rowan pure wool 4-ply, but using stylecraft special 4-ply has still produced an adorable, utilisable cardigan in a very nice modern shade! 

Good stuff!

Drops Design Baby Cardigan

Cute little baby cardi! This is another free pattern from Drops Design. It looks absolutely tiny so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it actually fits my friend's baby, due at the end of March.

I needed to make some alterations to the pattern. I had to change my needles up to 2.75 to get the correct gauge - I wonder now whether I should have gone up another size as it really does look small!

I casted on with the increased number of stitches, as I was worried about it gathering along the bottom by increasing after the band has been knitted. As the cardigan is A-line this seems reasonable and make it a bit easier too.

There is an error when it comes to casting off for the armholes - on size 1-3 mths, where it reads knit 64 it should be 39!

Had quite a bit of trouble sorting out the cables for the sleeves, if I followed the instructions then I would have two cables directly next to each other. Instead I cabled, purl 4, cable, purl 10, cable, purl 10, cable, purl 4. This seemed to be broadly ok although I then had some difficulty when it came to the yoke as I had one side of the sleeve with 12 purls and one side with 8 - instead of the standard 10 all the way around. I fudged this by dec. 2 on alternative decreases and it doesn't particularly show up. Would probably need to sit down and do some maths to correct this properly...

I couldn't really see the value in creating lace holes around the neck, so I skipped this. I also worried about the neck becoming too gathered so I didn't worry about the last set of decreasing either.

Hope that helps any future knitters of this pattern! Will post again when the baby is born and I can say how the sizing worked out!

UPDATE: News from the mum - it fits great as a newborn but not much room for growth...