Nice to Have Cardigan

I don't know, but I think "Must Have" is a little over-the-top for a cardigan sweater. Now that I've finished it, I guess it's nice to have a new sweater, but trust me, I didn't really have to have another one. (You don't want to know.)

This Must Have pattern and yarn hung around for almost a year before I got around to getting it on the needles. I was initially attracted to the pattern because I kept reading people's complaints that it ran a little small in size. Perfect! I get so tired of having to adjust patterns to fit.

It did not disappoint. It fits perfectly. I must confess that I did do a little last minute jiggling with the stitch count at the top of the sleeve to make the sleeve a smidge wider. That's it though.

I would recommend this pattern to someone who would like to try their hand a cables for the first time except for one reservation. I consider myself a fairly accomplished cable-er, but I still had a heck of a time figuring out what I was supposed to be doing for the "Wrap 3" stitch described in the glossary. The directions given in parentheses for this stitch may have been better written as (K1, YO, K2tog tbl).

This pattern also puts you through the hellish exercise of trying to pick up a precise number of stitches around the entire front edge. Don't do that to yourself. You will learn to hate picking up stitches. Just go ahead and pick up three stitches for every four and then do a little math to get the ribbing and buttonholes to work out correctly. Much easier and considerably less frustrating.

Wouldn't you know it? I finished the knitting on this sweater the day before we were heading out of town for a few days, so I quickly had to find something new to cast on for the trip. I went from wool to cotton. If I finished a wool sweater just in time to put it away for cold weather, I should naturally finish my cotton one in time to put it away for next summer.