Finished Miette Cardigan!

It is done! I have finished! FINALLY! Its been a battle I've been waging since October! But I've finally finished knitting my miette cardigan!

So I started this cardigan back in october when I was lucky enough to receive a couple of hobbycraft gift vouchers for my birthday! Which I used to purchase this women's institute wool and a set of circular needles.

I already had my heart set on making the miette because I'd seen all of the awesome ones that Dolly Clackett has made! 

I've had to majorly lighten these pictures so you can see the details but its a really lovely cropped cardigan that is knitted top down and has some nice lace detailing! [which I screwed up in like seven places...woops] The pattern can be found here for FREE!   

I've got to say I'm really stupidly proud of myself! Number one this is my first hand knitted garment! i.e not a scarf or a hat, Secondly it doesn't look half bad! Of course I can see all the flaws, but seen as they are my mistakes I'm not surprised! And thirdly, I finished it! and at times trust me , I really didn't think I would. I actually grew to hate this project a bit, with its rows and its stupid circular needles and seemingly endless instructions! But I finished it! I'm still not sure where that last bit of motivation came from but it did! Although last night when I had to pick up 112 stitches for the neckband I did consider throwing in the towel!

So onto technical matters! 

- I used aran and its LUSH! In fact its currently on offer for 3 for 2 and I'm wondering If I should make three more! Yes that right I only used one ball of wool for this project. It was a massive ball and cost £10.00 but still! FYI if I do decide to take advantage of the discount I'm going for the Red , Teal and Grey shades! It really is lovely to knit with!

- you use circular needles, and knit top down. Which meant nothing to me in the beginning but was easier than I expected! The sleeves are knit in the round though and that did take some jiggling and cursing!

-I learnt new stitches! Just in general I stepped out of my comfort zone which is pretty big for me! Although I am wondering what one would look like knit in garter stitch!

- the buttons came from my stash, they are not revolutionary but they do the job!

-If I were to do it again I think id print the pattern off, the amount of time I spent waiting for my tablet to charge was unreal! And although I like the idea of being paperless it did mean I didn't knit on some of the occasions I could have!

-I knit a chest size 34 because of negative ease and stuff, and it fits so yay!

   

So what do I think?

I love the pattern, it well written and I'd say it perfect for an ambitious beginner who wants to move away from scarves! I love the look as well. Its a great sort of 1950's style which I like [In fact my mum mentioned that it would be good for the vintage revival that she attends but I might have told her to sod off and knit her own!] Its very snuggly, more so that I expected and I love the 3/4 length sleeves. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how it looks with some of my dresses!

So what now? 

Well I have a big book of knitting patterns so I think I might try one of those, I'd like something stripy and with a hippy vibe. But I think I might have a short rest first. I might try for one hand knit item per year. That way I can splurge on wool and make sure its something I love. I really love how finishing this project has given me more confidence to try bigger and better knitted items! 

I do however still have some wool left! Which I'm going to use of something......

Any ideas?

Much Love 

Frankie

xxx