WIP: Ondrea Cardigan, Part 2

 

So I keep on talking about school, but the amount of school content I've shared isn't anywhere near proportional to the amount of time I've been spending there!  So here's my finished cardigan front pinned to Betty.  I'm really happy with it so far - blocking took this fabric from wobbly and slightly crispy, to soft, with a very nice weight.  And I love the combination of the diamond lace and the braided cable.  Maybe I am a sweater knitter after all!

 

This is the sweater that I'm basing the Ondrea cardigan on - it's a sweater from Halle Brothers, probably from the 1950s.  As you can see, the original cardigan is much less fitted, and the motifs are slightly different.  I like the way the armholes and shoulders fit in this sweater, so I decided to base my armhole decreases on the shaping in the original.  There were a few things that I really wanted to change, though - for one thing, the waist shaping, and for another, the neckline.  I was originally planning to make this a v-neck, but with the gauge that I'm using, decreasing the cable motif is not very pretty.  I was able to fudge it on the side increases and decreases, but those are less central to the sweater.

So, in keeping with the style of the original, I kept the neckline round, but deepened it, so that it ended up somewhere between a crew and a scoop neck.  I want this sweater to be versatile enough to be layered over a variety of necklines, but I also want it to be pretty (and flattering!) on its own merits, so for me, that means a more open neckline.

I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to pick up and knit a buttonband, or make a crocheted buttonband, but that can come later.  I've already started the second front, and am hoping to finish it by the end of next week, fingers crossed.

Happy Friday!