Drum roll, please…. I finished Clear Creek Cardigan! Now it
is going to NYC as my daughter’s early birthday present. In January she asked
me (!!!!! Yes, she asked!!!!!) to make her a big cardigan with buttons,
pockets, and thumbs openings like in my Dream cardigan. She started to really appreciate
my handmade cardigans especially since the winter in NYC this year has been
rough to say the least. I was flattered and felt really motivated. After
checking my stash and the last cardigan patterns on Ravelry I decided to go
with Clear Creek Cardigan by Sarah Solomon from the Spring 2018 issue of the
Interweave Knits.
It took me a while to finish it and all the while I was
repeating to myself like the famous Moliere’s character “Que diable allait-il
faire dans cette galère?” which could be roughly translated as “Why did you
pick this project? Are you mad?”
So why did I pick it?
My reason was extremely simple – somehow I managed to stash the
yarn required for this pattern (I don’t even remember when and where I bought
it) and had enough for the whole cardigan. And I had the Interweave Knits
magazine as well. I stopped buying it years ago but the last three issues
seemed to me full of good patterns so I ordered them all. And the main
attraction was the Sarah Solomon’s patterns – they looked traditional but
modern, appropriate for any age or life style, and definitely worth trying.
And then I started knitting. The cardigan is made in pieces
from the bottom up and seamed. My first piece was the back and the ribbing was
supposed to be 28 rows long. I stopped at 26 rows because it was getting longer
than I expected already and then took a better look at all the measurements
given in the pattern directions. 21 ¼” till armholes is too long even for my
daughter who is much taller than me. With this length it is rather a coatigan.
My daughter asked for something to be worn under her coat which is not long,
therefore I had to shorten the whole thing accordingly.
My next change was a mistake. But since I noticed it rather
late – at armhole decreases – I decided to treat at as a feature rather than a
bug and keep my variation of cables. You can see on the picture that the first
two rows of cable patterns are just to establish the cables and they are not
supposed to be repeated. That is why there is a dark black line separating them
from the rest of the cables. Somehow I missed the line, didn’t see it. Probably
because I was in a hurry to finish the cardigan, but maybe because there are
several different cables on the back, the whole thing was complicated, and
required a lot of focus and concentration. Anyway, I noticed it when 2/3 of the
back was already finished and kept my version of the pattern throughout.
There is an obvious mistake in Chart C of the cable (I
circled it in red). When stitches are crossed, the front ones are knit and the
back ones are purled. But then on the purl row they are all purled as well
which could be done only if they are all knit in the knit row. And that was my
solution – I knit all the stitches in the front row and purled them at the
back. You can follow my example, or copy this part from the Chart B (Chart B
and C are rather similar, so you’d better look at them closely before you start
knitting).
My next hiccup was at the armholes. The pattern tells you to
“BO 2 sts at beginning of following 8 rows”. How would you interpret this
sentence? I bound off 2 sts at the beginning of each following 8 rows and got
less than 96 sts I was supposed to get. After some thinking and calculating, I
bound off one stitch at the beginning of each row and got the needed amount of
stitches. I am not saying that there is a mistake in the pattern. I am saying
that Sarah Solomon’s way of explaining things just doesn’t agree with me.
For example, I got stuck on this paragraph: “To prevent edge
flare when BO over cabling, BO by knitting 2 sts tog out of every 4 sts over
cables. First, place a removable m after last st that is to be BO, so that you
do not lose count while dec and BO at the same time. Then, k1, *k2tog, pass 2nd
st on right needle over first, [k1, pass 2nd st on right needle over
first] 2 times; rep from * until marked st has been BO.”
For me the first sentence was more than enough and I still
don’t know how to do this the way it is explained in the pattern. Do you? Can
you clarify it for me?
The back was finished, washed, and blocked, when I got stuck
again at the armhole decreases on the left front. Because this time it is “BO 2
sts 4 times” only. I did as I was told and got the needed amount of stitches. But
now my armholes at the front were much deeper than the ones at the back. I
smelled trouble. The diagram of the pattern shows a perfectly symmetrical
sleeve cap, which couldn’t be true if you get different decreases at armhole on
back and front. Yet, I’ve made garments with asymmetrical sleeve cap before
(Ebony and Ivory by Helga Isager) and I know that they fit better than
symmetrical ones. So I wasn’t too worried thinking that I could modify the
sleeve cap decreases easily to fit my particular case. And this is what I did
eventually when I was making the sleeve caps, but I am getting ahead of myself.
When I first looked at the picture of Clear Creek Cardigan I
didn’t like its buttons – they looked too small for such an oversized massive
garment. It didn’t stop me, obviously, because buttons are no big deal and you
can sew any buttons you want at the end. Right? Wrong, not in this particular
case. Because of the way buttonholes are done according to the directions, only
tiny buttons would get through them. Keep in mind that the front bands are
double-layered and you have to make two buttonholes in one row and later stitch
them together (totally new skill for me, but I managed). This process makes a
buttonhole even smaller. So if you follow the pattern, you are stuck with tiny
buttons which, in my opinion, look better on a sheer blouse than on a wooly
grandpa cardigan.
I also had to make some changes while knitting pockets.
First, you make 2 pocket linings: cast on 32 sts, knit for 37 rows (in my case),
and make 6 increases in the last purl row (I was surprised about the increases
but dutifully made them). Actually, for pocket linings I used provisional cast
on and, while knitting the fronts, unraveled them and connected to the fronts
just after the ribbing. When I was inserting the pocket stitches, 38 seemed to
be too many for a pocket (look at the picture, these pockets are generous
enough with 32 sts) so I just decreased the added 6 sts in the first row. I had
to do the same for the second pocket.
The last thing that I changed here were sleeve cuffs. My daughter
specifically asked for thumb openings. Again, I used provisional cast on, then,
when everything was finished and seemed, unraveled it, picked up sts, and knit
them in the round leaving openings for thumbs. It was totally worth it because
now the sleeves can be worn both ways – rolled up or down.
The cardigan is big but not heavy thanks to the yarn. That
was my first time with Berroco Ultra Alpaca and I loved every moment of working
with it. The yarn is soft, light, warm, and a little fuzzy. The color is really
spectacular – heathery dark green-blue with some brown specks. It was easy to
work with, just sliding from the needles (I used the wooden ones). Bottom line,
this yarn is a gem. I don’t know how and when I got so much of it, but I am
glad that I did.
Oh, and if someone is interested in my sleeve caps decreases,
here are my calculations:
On the back side: BO 6 sts, BO 1 st in every alt row 15
times, BO 2 sts in every alt rows 7 times
On the front side: BO 6 sts, BO 2 sts in every alt row 4
times, BO 1 st in every alt row 15 times, BO 2 sts in every alt row 3 times
BO remaining 14 sts.
All the specs about the yarn and needles and more pictures
on my Ravelry page.
Now, you are probably going to ask if I will make more
patterns by Sarah Solomon after the difficult time that I had with Clear Creek
Cardigan? As you all know, patterns are exceptionally difficult to write. I
cannot do it and have an immense appreciation of the people who can. Every
designer makes mistakes now and again. To say nothing of knitters. Of course I
will knit her patterns. I bought 3 Interweave issues just for them, remember?
Plus now I know that I have a tendency to misunderstand or totally not
understand her writing style, so I will adapt and adjust my expectations. Wish
me luck!
PS: Do you want to know my favorite method of knitting
buttonholes? Stay tuned…
