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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Finished: Que Sera (Sera!)

This was an aptly-titled project--whatever will be, will be! I started this cardigan with the intention of keeping it for myself, because let's face it, most of the things I make are for me. (Side note--I'm not ashamed to admit that at all!) But as in life, things don't always work out as we plan.

Pattern: Que Sera by Kirsten Kapur, size XS with shorter sleeves.
Yarn: 8 skeins Knit Picks Main Line (discontinued), 75% Pima Cotton, 25% Merino Wool, in Ivory
Buttons: Vintage brass dress buttons from Vintage Necessities on Etsy.




Because I'm knitting from stash, when I fall in love with a pattern I have to rummage around and see what I've got that might work. In this case, I had two quantities of cotton-blend yarn: one lot of Knit Picks Main Line in Ivory with enough yardage to make the XS size with truncated sleeves, and one lot of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Robin's Egg Blue with enough to make my size if I also made short sleeves. The Main Line was so much softer (seriously, I don't know why they discontinued this yarn...it's wonderful!), and I started to imagine wearing the sweater in cream color, so I did some calculating and went with it.

Since it's a thicker yarn than called for (aran vs. worsted), I used a size larger needle, and made the XS size. I fully admit this might have been an ill-advised choice from the start. The bust measurement for the XS in the schematic is 31.5". Ahem. Not my size. But I started with the sleeves as a kind of a swatch and it seemed to be working out to be something approaching my size. Once I got a fair bit completed on the body, however, I realized that the lace pattern pulls in much more than I had bargained for, and started to make peace with the fact that this cardigan was not meant to be mine. Once it was complete, it was not quite an XS, but there were about 4 inches between the front edges when I tried it on. Bummer. No picture of my humiliation, sorry.



Then, it really started to be kismet. My very dear (and tiny!) friend got an AMAZING job and is re-entering the workforce part-time after taking a break for children for the past five years. I realized this sweater was meant to be hers. It's my "Congratulations and I'm SO Proud of You!" gift. It was actually finished a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to surprise her so I sat on this post for a while--then I caved and told her about it on the phone the day before our big outing (to an awesome show and dinner for her job!). But oh well: she loves it, and of course I forgot to take a picture of her in it, so here it is anyway.


PS: The robin's egg blue Cotton Fleece I mentioned? It's going to be a Que Sera for me! Stay tuned. :)

5 comments:

  1. ah. Had the same problem happen with a Liesl once. So I gave it to my sister in law. Then I made a Liesl that was a full 10 inches too big in the bust for me. Turns out that it looked great as a wrap around sweater on my sister in law.

    One of these days, I will actually make a successful Liesl for myself.

    On the plus side, I sure have gotten my money's worth out of that damnable pattern.

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  2. Your sister in law must love those knitting accidents! I keep looking at Liesl, myself. Do you like the short or longer sleeve version?

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  3. ooooo! What a lucky friend. The sweater is totally work-worthy too, if you ask me. It's hard to let your knitting do what it wants sometimes, isn't it?

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  4. What a beautiful job! I can't wait to see it on her too.

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  5. Ahhh! I SO LOVE this sweater, especially since I am the "dear friend" who gets to wear it! I wore it to work, in fact. I layered it over a pretty purple flower patterned blouse. It was PERFECT!!!!!!!

    The fact that Amy gave this to me means the world!!! I know the work she puts into each project, the time, the love....it is a precious gift that I will always treasure!

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