New Sweater!

So we crawled under a rock last week to wait out the storm that was the stomach flu.  Nothing was done.  We are going to forget that week ever existed and move on.

I have a new sweater!!  It had a rocky start but came out more wearable then I could have hoped for ...

First:  the yarn is MarigoldJen BFL sock yarn in Amy's Punky Plum - I bought it for the knit-a-long that the Stockinette Zombies hosted over the last 2 months.  I have high hopes for this sweater as the swatch has been through the washer and dryer at least 5 times (I lost it in the pocket of a pair of jeans for a while) and come out soft, drapey, and not a pill on it :)

 I did on the other hand have a moment when I openend the package - the skeins were not very well matched.  Two matched perfectly and one looked like a different colour all together (can you spot it?)  But with some artful alternating which I would have done either way, I was getting a fabric I was happy with.

Next: the pattern is the Serina Cardigan, a $6 download from Ravelry.  The yardage requirements on the pattern page state the following

Yardage Requirements:    850 - 1600 yards (777 - 1463 m)
Sizes Available:            32"-50" bust

I wanted to make around a 44" size and had around 1450 yards of yarn.  Wonderful .... or not.  Bought the pattern only to find that size needs 1600 yards.  What?!?  Grrrrrrrrrr ....

I took a deep breath and read the pattern.  Conveniently the bottom of the sweater had a lot more fabric than I originally thought so I got rid of some of it to get back some of that yarn and crossed my fingers. I left the arms to the end, intending to split whatever was left from the body in half and getting as far as I could but I needent have planned so much.

The bottom of the sweater for my size was intended to be about 50" around and mine is only about 42" so I actually have yarn left over:

And I'm happy.  I definitely needed a closure of some sort and since I thought buttons might be too heavy, opted for a really light weight shawl stick from Black Sheep Yarns.

(And I'm still on track for my 13 sweaters of the year ;) )