Project Update #3 : 27 March 2024

I was hoping to have finished this project by now. I've been stranded on sleeve island for about four days : it's been a long and repetitive process though at least the rows were fairly short with only about 50 stitches. I decided to finish both sleeves before finishing the body to make sure I had enough yarn for them.

The photo below shows you what the cardigan looks like at the moment.

The cable of the circular needle I'm using is not long enough to show the real width of the cardigan clearly. I've tried it on and it seems okay so far.

_{Closeup of the Andalusian stitch and the cuff.}

I used a coat hanger for display purposes only as you're not supposed to hang knitwear on hangers to avoid stretching.

The cardigan now weighs about 400g so it's becoming a bit hard to knit comfortably. As I'm now knitting the body of the cardigan each row takes a long time with over 130 stitches. After I've finished the body (I'd envisage another 10 cm) comes the waistband (about 5cm like the cuffs) and beyond that it's just the button band (another 4cm).

My calculation is that I'll have just enough yarn to complete this project. When I started it I thought 600g should be plenty (and it should) but the texture of the Andalusian stitch has a 'shortening' effect on the length.

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I've now also started looking at how to make a neat button band. I know how to pick up stitches on the edge but I'm also aware from experience that there's a technique and I'm still to learn it. I've initially found this video below:

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The video clearly tells you about proportions and how you're not supposed to pick up every stitch. If you do, the button band will tend to 'fan out' when the cardigan is worn. I'm aware of this issue but was unsure about the number of stitches to pick up. I'm also trying to prevent future issues considering how thick the yarn is. It all takes time though.

Anyhow, thank you for reading !