Fastest Cardi EVER

I did it ... I knitted something wearable that is not a scarf ... go me. I give you the tonsil cardigan - Mr. Giggles is cringing at the name, but if the shoe fits ... :-)

It was part of my New Years resolution, because I have been knitting for a long long time (over 25 years) and whilst I was a girl, I did make tank tops for myself as soon as I got breasts and curves and anything really that might require fitting, I stuck to scarves and blankets.

Anyway, I have a lot of yarn left over from my dad's blanket and whilst it is not a natural fibre, it is very soft and chunky. Two weeks ago my daughter had her tonsils and adenoids out and, as she was operated on, I cast on the first stitches. The shape is based on the Shalom Cardigan, but I had a different gauge, I changed the yoke, I did different increases etc ...

I used 9mm needles, because I had those and the swatch looked nice. I know, I should have probably chosen something where I had the correct gauge and where I just had to follow instructions, but I knew that 3 stitches and 4 rows made a 1 inch square and I went from there. I had to redo some bits, for example, when I finished the top grey stripe I realised I had cast on too large a neck line and the entire bottom blue stripe had to go, because I had calculated the increases from the waist wrong and it looked more like a peplum. Nevertheless, even with all the changes I worked on this cardi for a total of 6 days, although 2 were long days (I finished the yoke), because they were spent in the hospital with a drugged 4 year old ... a luxury that I normally don't have, as said 4 year old likes to keep me busy.

I have no ideas whether it'll wash or how it'll wear, but I have been agonising about knitting cardigans and pullovers for so long and in the end, there is only so much thinking you can do before you should start doing. It doesn't close in the front and there were moments when I contemplated of redoing the bottom section again, but in the end I'll see how this one fares. I have still got more of this yarn (Moda Vera Shiver), so I'll make a couple of cowls maybe either for myself or maybe as presents :-)