I was digging through my yarn stash and found yet another inherited unfinished object (UFO). This one I found in my husband’s paternal grandmother’s basement, along with the yarn.

Not sure why the project was abandoned with only one sleeve left. A bit of trial and error led me to US size 6 knitting needles, and I could feel the seam in the other sleeve, so knew it was knitted flat then sewn up. I counted the visible stitches and added two for the seam. I knitted the sleeve from the top down, ending with a few rows of ribbing.

There was more mystery about the little cardigan; the inside was very, very fuzzy. Was it brushed? What was going on? Some insight occurred when I knit the sleeve. The yarn had a long halo (fibers that stick out from the spun yarn), and when knitting the garter stitch, those long fibers hung out on the purl side of the garment because of the mechanics of forming the stitches. So the inside was significantly more fuzzy than the outside. Some time rumbling about the bottom of several yarn stashes probably helped the condition as well. After finishing the missing sleeve and blocking the cardigan, I decided the fuzzy must be embraced. I turned the sweater inside out and gave it a brush to raise and align the fibers. It is so fuzzy, the inside out seams don’t even show.

The cardigan has a very mossy look. There was just enough yarn to complete the sleeve and sew up the seams; I trimmed about 3” of waste once the ends were woven in.

I was curious about how a top down cardigan might be constructed. I purchased a knitting pattern, but was quickly overwhelmed reading through. I decided I needed to start small, with scrap yarn, so found free instructions on how to knit a cardigan for a doll. I don’t need as much yarn or time for doll clothes as I would for human-sized apparel, it gives me a good idea on how construction proceeds, and it makes my youngest happy.

So a raglan sleeved cardigan knitted top down is a brilliant thing. There are less seams to match, and it is easier to do custom sleeve and body lengths (which my entire family needs). My doll sweater has some mistakes, but the purpose was to understand, not be perfect. I’m quite pleased with the knowledge gained.

I have made human sized garments, but they have been mostly ill fitting. But I feel my knitting skills are improving, and I am ready to move on from hats and scarves. I do have two in-process projects to wrap up before rushing onward, perhaps this idea will provide motivation.

I found a knitting pattern for lace that basically uses two stitches, a yarn over (increase), and a purl two together (decrease). These two alternate and every row is the same. It results in an open weave with dimension and vertical stripes. What? Vertical stripes in knitting? Unusual and intriguing. I made up a couple test swatches with some wool sock yarn with size 4 and size 6 needles. The magic of the lace comes when the pieces are blocked, and the pattern opens up and changes dimension.

I shall be experimenting more with this pattern.