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Autumn Rose Cardigan

This cardigan, one of the first patterns I ever wrote, is still in style and has a beautiful stitch pattern.  The stitch is a simple shell and very easy to work.  I wanted the cardigan to have some slight shaping at the waist but shells can sometimes be a bit tricky to decrease.  So instead of doing decreases, I changed to a smaller hook two times when working the waist area.  Switching to smaller hooks is a great way to decrease when doing shells.  The change in size of the resulting smaller shells is just barely noticeable.  After the shaping, I gradually changed back to the original hook size.

But my brainstorm had a drawback.  I wanted the sides to nip in a bit but I wanted the center fronts to remain straight.  Therefore, I had to revert back to the original hook size midway through each row when making the fronts.  This is not a difficult maneuver but you need to stay focused as you are working this portion of the pattern.

Unfortunately, changing to smaller hooks was not an option when doing decreases for the neck and armholes.  My original pattern had klunky decreases that really didn’t follow the stitch pattern very well.  In addition, I decided to add 23 additional chains to the starting chain to keep the hem a bit looser to accommodate the airy pattern.  Other little nips and tweaks make this new version error-free ( I hope!) and much easier to understand.

Neckline

Since I had to re-create the cardigan to edit the pattern, I worked another one in Naturally Caron Country.  This yarn is wonderful to work with!  It virtually slides off the hook and makes the whole project  go very quickly.  It also has a beautiful sheen.  However, the gauge is a bit different than with the original rayon so I am writing up a new pattern for this cardigan.  I will call it the Come Again Cardigan.  It is exactly like the Autumn Rose Cardigan except for the yarn and gauge.  The hook sizes are larger and you have to work fewer stitches.  I also changed the size to a 46″ bust because I have added a few pounds in the last  six years!

Watch for these two patterns to appear soon.  I am taking extra care to be sure that the patterns are correct.  As always, I appreciate any feed-back you might have about possible errors or omissions.  You are really my only testers so I need your help in keeping my free patterns accurate and easy to read.

Hat for Charity

Uncle Max, my father’s uncle was a veterinarian and taxidermist in Germany.  My father had a very close relationship with Uncle Max.  When my father retired he pursued his love of woodcarving.  One day when he and my mother were hiking, they came upon a huge tree that had been felled and cut into chunks.  Between the two of them they lugged one of the chunks of wood home to the workshop.  There my dad began a characterture of his favorite uncle.  Here you see “Max” modeling the hat I made for charity.  The pattern is from the book Chemo Caps and Wraps by Annie’s Attic.

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