A vanilla cardigan improves

At the Whitby Knitting Guild meeting I was kindly invited to give a demonstrtation of blocking so I made a vanilla cardigan out of King Cole Aran. The yarn is a mix of acrylic and wool and very washable. I used Kate Buller's excellent book, Style Your Own Kid's Knits.

When it was all sewn up I thought is could use a bit of colour. First I imagined a young man wearing it, so blue buttons were sewn on.

Pockets, are so handy. Making the cardi used exactly two 100 gram balls and I mean exactly, I had only about 6 inches of yarn left after making up.

So I knit pockets to match the button colour using Bravo DK. Casting on 19 stitches, always knitting the 3 outer stitches (garter stitch) and moss stitching the middle (for sturdiness).

After blocking, I placed them, 5 stitches in from the center and 4 stocking stitch rows up from the rib, first marking the spot with pins then basting them in place with (temporary) Wonder Tape. You see the pockets upside down to illustrate the position of the tape. I flipped them over and applied a bit of pressure to make the basting stick. The tape will wash away.

I tested the stitch using the Bravo tension swatch.

Straight stitch, a lighter presser foot pressure and matching thread, using the even feed foot on the sewing machine, also for sturdiness.

A cardigan is born, ready to warm up some lucky young lad!