Sierra Cardigan for Hari's wife

I am writing from the West Coast! Having successfully made my baggage-laden transition to California, I am drinking tea in my friend's flat, waiting for her to come back from work so I can drag her out to all the tourist kitch L.A. sites that locals never want to see but shameless tourists (like me!) are obsessed with.
I'll have a week here, before moving slightly North to my future home. I've scoped out yarn stores in the area online, and assuming Danielle doesn't mind brief stops of textile shopping research between celebrity house spotting, I will report back.

Will I bump into Cher in the DK section of a local yarn store? Or help Kate Winslet with her gauge? Perhaps Harvey Keitel is wondering whether he should invest in a traditional Aran pattern to keep him occupied during his next break in filming. DO NOT WORRY!! I, future Knit Advisor to the Stars, will Tell ALL!

Meanwhile, here are the details for the sweater I knit for the new wife of Hari, the Thosamling taxi driver (both of whom will soon be starring in a documentary from White Crane Films about their wedding! Check out the Trailer.)

Sierra Cardigan for Hari's Wife

                 

                     Overall

  

- Pattern: The Sierra Cardigan from Cascade Yarns (Free!)

- Needles: US 7

- Yarn: Shepherd's Classic 100 % Wool

                            Modifications

Turn a cardigan into a pullover 

I did this primarily to save me time, and because I don't have a vast button collection at my disposal. The pattern is written with 3 cable repeats down the back, and 1 1/2 down each of the left and the right fronts, so I just mirrored the back cables on the front for a total of 6 cables, 3 on either side.   

Knit in the round

The pattern is a cable repeat against reverse stockinette stitch (all purls), so knitting in the round meant I was purling every stitch between the cables, every row. My purls aren't much slower than my knit stitches, and I try to avoid seaming as much as possible, but if you dislike purl stitches, then I would recommend following the pattern and knitting in pieces. Remember- when a pattern is written for Back and Forth knitting and you switch it to knitting the round, you must switch all Knits to Purls and Purls to Knits on the reverse side of the pattern (eg, the inside of the sweater). This pattern is a pretty, simple repeat, so this was easily done.

Adjust Sizing for a 30" Bust 

Shrinking a pattern such as this is fairly simple, because the cables are interspaced with unpatterned stitches. Once you have your gauge (and I'd recommend doing a gauge swatch with reverse stockinette only and one with reverse stockinette on either side of a cable), estimate how many fewer purl stitches between the cables will you need to bring your sweater down to the desired size. In this instance, the cables are each 18 stitches and there are 6 of them. The number of purl stitches between each cable is the same EXCEPT along the sides, where you need a larger number in order to be able to bind off for the underarm without interrupting the cables on the upper body. My total stitch count was 144 (joined) with the stitches divided as follows: Cable (18), Purl (4), Cable (18), Purl (4), Cable (18), Purls at Side (10), Cable (18), Purl (4), Cable (18), Purl (4), Cable (18), Purls at Side (10).

Having made the cast-on adjustments to accomodate a smaller width, I needed to adjust length of torso, underarms and arm length. (Remember, when adjusting sizes you need to adust PROPORTIONATELY. It is unlikely that an individual with a 30" bust will have the same torso length or arm length as someone with a 40" bust.)

•  Knit in the round for 11 1/2 inches to underarm. Bound off 4 stitches on either side of each underarm, leaving 1 stitch on either side of far right and left cables on front and back for attaching the sleeves. Switch to back and front knitting for 7" underarms.
• For the sleeves- Cast on 30 stitches: Purl 6, Cable 18, Purl 6. Knit sleeves simultaneously on straight needles. Followed pattern increase, but started after knitting straight for 4". Bound off with a total of 68 stitches per sleeve, 19" long- about 3 3/4 cable repeats along entire length of each sleeve.

Neckline

Having changed from a cardigan to a pullover, I couldn't follow the pattern exactly for the neckline. For the back, I bound off the centre 24 stitches and left 20 on holders on either side for the shoulders.

One could do the same for the front, but I prefer a slightly lower front neckline for comfort and feminity, so I bound off 10 stitches at the centre, the 3 stitches on either side twice, then 2 stitches on either side 4 times, leaving me with a slight scoop of 24 bound off centre stitches and 20 on holders for either shoulder.

Edging

To use more of the sparkly mohair yarn I accented Chandiram's Vest with, I doublestranded my wool with it for 5 rows of stockinette along the cuffs, bottom and neckline.

Conclusion

Very pretty pattern and easy to modify. The cable looks complicated because it isn't charted, but it's easy to understand and memorise, without becoming boring. Given the set-up of purl stitches between the cables, it's very simple to adjust sizing without affecting the overall pattern.

Highly recommended! Particularly for someone who likes the look for an Aran knit or more intricate cable, but doesn't have much experience in highly textured knitting, this is a great pattern to gain confidence, with a lovely end result!