Asymmetrical Cardigan
I’ve had the Asymmetrical Cardigan done for at least a month, but I’ve totally been procrastinating about writing up all of the details. Here’s the lowdown, brace yourself for a wordy post:
Pattern: Asymmetrical Cardigan, from Knitting Nature
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted, the Olive colorway
This sweater was all about the journey, man. Where journey is actually drama. It started out with the best of intentions. I had seen a beautiful finished sweater in Malabrigo on the knitalong page, and I stopped by Yarntopia the next day to buy the yarn. I ran home and armed with my calculator, I was ready to rock.
I quickly found my first error – the pattern called for a bulky yarn, and the Malabrigo was worsted weight. That’s all well and good, but I didn’t convert the bulky yardage requirements before buying yarn, and I was a skein short. Damn. Yarntopia was out of the Olive colorway, and wouldn’t get more in until the next shipment. I pressed ahead anyway, determined to find a matching skein somewhere.
It took me four skeins to find a match. Hot damn, that Malabrigo really varies in color! I ordered two skeins from the internets (Pureknits, where I didn’t see the disclaimer that the olive was darker than the photo, and ebay where the photo was all lies), one from Yarntopia (then brilliantly lost the receipt), and finally Sarah totally swept in and saved my ass. She was visiting home in Indiana, I sent her my swatch, and she hooked me up! I used the mismatched skein on the cuffs and collar, striped with the original dyelot, and it is Good Enough. I think it’s less noticeable than the right front, which has a big ass stripe across it where I joined a new skein (in the same dyelot).
On to the pattern! The pattern is… different. The body of the sweater is knit in one big piece, starting at the front ribbing, up across the shoulders, and down the back. You cast on a ton of stitches for the arms along the way and then decrease them back down when you get to the back. Lastly, you add the ribbed collar/neckband and cuffs. This construction is interesting and keeps your attention, but makes gauge modifications a bitch to compute.
Because my gauge was different from the pattern, I basically knit a larger pattern size, but kept the vertical measurements for my true size (the pattern gives inches measurements, rather than rows). This made figuring out the chart easier – the chart explicitly states where to begin and end the fronts and back, and it was difficult to figure out the method behind Norah’s madness. Also, the pattern schematic and finished bust size do not take into account the two inch buttonband, so keep an eye out for this if you’re knitting this sweater.
Modifications:
1. I added 5 inches of waist shaping.
2. I kept the underarm stitches live when casting on and binding off the arms, and did a three-needle bind off when seaming them together. Casting on was easy, I just did a provisional cast on with waste yarn. Binding off was trickier – I didn’t use short rows, I used a Kelly fudge technique that involved stopping rows early and turning the work to leave the arm stitches live. Don’t try this at home kids, this isn’t good knitting practice by any means.
Modifications that I really wish I did:
1. Change the stitch pattern. The stitch pattern is caning-inspired, and I really liked it. However, the longer you look at it, the more Star of David it becomes. This would be really easy to fix – just replace the mostly-purl row in the chart, which would produce an elongated diamond pattern. I started really wishing for this mod about halfway through the sweater.
2. Knit the buttonbands on to the sweater, rather than seaming them. The seaming? Pretty much unnecessary.
The sweater pulling out at the bottom (it doesn’t normally pull quite like that), but this is still an extremely flattering photo of the cardi. The cardigan actually fits very well, but it makes me look like a ton of bricks.
The first problem is the buttonband. It is horribly, awfully gapey. I really tugged at it and smoothed it out for the photoshoot. A smaller friend tried it on, and it gaped on her, too. The issue is the 1×1 rib in the buttonband – rib is made to stretch, and stretch it does. The sweater is pretty heavy, and needs a much more substantial buttonband to hold things together. I’m considering buying some sturdy ribbon and sewing it on for some structure.
The second issue is the asymmetrical silhouette. I was pretty excited about the asymmetrical part of the cardigan – it’s a different shape for me, and my wardrobe was psyched to be expanded. But it’s not flattering. To be frank, it makes one of the (already generously-sized) girls look massive. Eek! I’d be so much happier if it was a regular, buttonband-in-the-middle, cardigan.
Malabrigo is such nice yarn, it’s so soft and wonderful to work with. However, you don’t have to do much to get it to pill – by the time I was finished knitting the body of the sweater, the front halves had already shown evidence of the yarn’s pilly, blurry fate. I’ll definitely use Malabrigo in the future, but I’ll stick to scarves. Or hats. I seamed the cardigan with a thinner yarn, Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. I know, Silky Wool is not strong at all, but I had it lying around and the color was a near-match.
This is my third pattern from Knitting Nature (see also: Target Wave Mittens, Basalt Tank). I really and truly adore that book, and my eye is definitely drawn to Norah Gaughan’s patterns these days. The Phyllo Yoked pullover is next on the list. I’m planning on knitting a shorter version of the pattern repeat so I can wear it as a short-sleeved sweater without too much see-through action.
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I really love that pattern, your implementation (hee), and I do think it’s a great cardi! I have a malabrigo sweater that I wear a fair amount and while it pills, it’s not a horrible amount (like rowan big wool!) and I think it’s worth it for the softness.
As for the buttonband puckering/gaping — any thought to sewing grosgrain ribbon to the reverse side? It tends to keep it from gaping (I did this on a cardi I made my mom because garter stitch buttonbands also like to gape).
oh my goodness it’s gorgeous!! i love it!! that green is so purty :) how many skeins of malabrigo did you end up using? i have five skeins in my stash, wondering is that going to be enough.
I really like the pattern, it’s so unusual. I’ve also looked at all the patterns in Knitting Nature but I have yet to try one.
I have also found button bands to be a problem, so I’m going with a zipper in my current project. If it goes well, I think I’ll convert to a zipperpanian and be done with gaping button bands forever.
However, I’ve never tried to use a ribbon on the button band. Maybe I should try this on some of my previous cardigans to see how it would work. You live and learn. :)
Wow! It’s beautiful. You did a wonderful job with the adjustments. The cardi looks fabulous on you. (I found your blog through the KAL blog. I’m still waiting for the yarn to arrive so that I can start my first Norah Gaughan design: the Hex Coat.) I also adore Norah’s book.
Your cardigan turned out very nice! I love the color and the buttons. I made this cardigan for my daughter a while ago, but I never liked the color she chose. Knitting Nature is a great book.
I never would have seen the Star of David unless you pointed it out – now it’s all I can see! I think it turned out great – and it sounds like you learned quite a bit in your journey. To me, that makes a sweater all that much better. Sewing ribbon onto the button band would help with the gaping – stabilize it up a bit.
Hey – thanks for sharing your drama. Your process is so helpful to hear, especially when substituting yarn at a different weight. I love Malabrigo and I wondered if it pilled like Manos – thanks for letting all us knitters know. Putting a ribbon placket in the buttonbands might help your situation – it really does stiffen everything up. Your sweater turned out great and it really looks great on you – I hope you enjoy it when it’s cooler outside!
Thanks for sharing all these notes! Especially about stuff like pilling and fit :) It is a shame that the asymmetry isn’t flattering, because it is such a beautiful pattern, and I LOVELOVELOVE malabrigo. I’ve only made a scarf in it so far (haven’t posted yet) so it’s good to know that it might be an “accessories only” yarn. If you do put the ribbon in, definitely post about it! :)
Man, that was a lot of work. But if there is anyone who can handle complicated pattern mods – it’s you!
Hopefully you’ll get some wear out of it once you stabilize the button band. It’s way too pretty to live in your closet…
You did a really awesome job with that sweater. It looks great on you too! When I saw it in the book, I thought it looked alright, but I love the way you did it, and now it’s on my must knit list!
What a great color and the sweater is so beautifully made. But thanks for pointing out the asymmetrical ramifications on big boobs – note taken. This is a great review.
This is exactly the kind of project report I love to read!! If I ever make that sweater I will be sure to have your notes handy. I’m amazed at your perseverance, but it paid off: for all the buttonband problems the sweater looks gorgeous.
I also knit a lace shawl from Malabrigo and boy, are the colour mismatches dramatic! Mine wasn’t the same colour at all, but several shades different, and I finally just turned it into a design element. (they don’t look disruptive in your sweater, though, they look lovely)
Well, I see what you mean. I say, wear it as a jacket but don’t button it up. Or just wear it inside the house. Still, it’s very cool!
It looks amazing. The cardi must be so soft. I am making a scarf with the olive colorway. It’s such a lovely color.
Looks very nice! And hey, you could totally wear it right now and say it was your passover sweater, right?
that is some super knitting there! malabrigo is a dream to knit with but yes, there is the pilling issue. and the button band…i’ll be curious to see if you get the gaping to lessen. and i understand about the boob issue. that sucks. definitely sucks. i hope you get some use out of this sweater because IT IS SO PURDY!!!
:o) yes, stitch pattern star of david-ish aside, and yes, asymmetrical issues aside, you did such a super job on this cardigan! amazing! and worst comes to worst, you can gift it to someone who would appreciate handknits? just a ‘worst-case-scenario’ idea just in case.
i think you should keep it.
it looks very snuggly. :o)
Well, it’s a beautiful sweater, but I gotta tell you, that gapey buttonband thing seems to be all the rage in pattern design. I just got a copy of Fitted Knits and there are several sweaters that have that feature and they are on slim models, so it really isn’t a size issue. I don’t particularly like the gaping thing because I think it makes it look like the sweater is too small, but I may be old-fashioned. I think if it bugs you enough, well, you’re good enough to pull off that band and make one you think will work better, and I would include adding buttons – I think my Twist needed a couple more to reduce the gape on it. All in all, a nice knit and I say fix it so YOU will wear it happily.
Wow, what a write up and such a beautiful sweater. I really appreciate all your thoughts and comments on the sweater. I too am in the process of knitting this and will keep everything you said in mind! I love how yours turned out even if you aren’t as happy with it. It really does look good on you! I think adding a button in between each button would fix the problem. But then you’d have a lot of buttons! Or you could move the buttons over more towards the sweater and that might help tighten it up a bit. All in all it’s a great sweater and you did a fantastic job!
Wonderful sweater! love this pattern it’s brillant! well done!
I love your version! I’m trying to make this sweater for myself but Ive run into a snag. Any chance you could try and help me ?-Mary
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