CAST-ON METHOD:
Front and back panels: Long-tail cast on
Sleeve: (Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy) Slip Knot cast on - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n8E3I6Cg2k

NEEDLE SIZES:
Small (1x1 ribbing): US3
Larger (everything else): US5

1/9/2015 - Started just because I was itching to start something new, and didn’t have the right needles for the other project. While waiting impatiently for them to show up from WEBS (won’t shop from them anymore), I figured, eh, let’s see about this shawl. The discounted kit arrived from Craftsy in no time, and now I have eleven skeins of the same yarn to burn through.

Had to do three gauge swatches before finally getting gauge…and went down a needle size smaller than the final swatch, hoping it would be spot on. Recommended needle sizes were US8 and US6, and instead I need US5 and US3. I know I’m a loose purler a lot of the time, but I wouldn’t have thought I’d need to go down THIS much. Oh well - first time I recall really truly doing the whole gauge swatch thing, and I suspect I’ll be reeeeal happy I did it. I can only imagine how big this thing would’ve been otherwise!

Note to self - the gauge swatches have the needle size noted by the number of knots in the tail yarn. So one has 8 knots where I used a US8 needle, etc. Wish I would’ve remembered to purl 8 stitches into the knit side of the swatch instead - that would be interesting to see.

1/11/2015 - Making surprisingly good progress. Finally thought to confirm width and yup, I can easily see it being the correct 24” across. It’s pulling a little narrower than 24” when relaxed, but not too much, so it’ll be easy to achieve with blocking. (Then again, this yarn is something like 80% acrylic, so I could be very wrong about this!)

Spent a good chunk of the morning attempting to repair one of two mistakes in the cable…not sure what happened on the lower back right side - just really biffed it. Knit to the offending spot, and drilled down six rows for the six problem stitches. I think I’m much better at doing this sort of thing with lace, where the detail work is only on one side. It looked like earthworm dissection day in jr high Biology. Did not do a great job with this - so I decided the error over on the left side (same row) could be left alone. Luckily it’s just an incorrect “swirling” of the cables.

1/12/2015 - Back panel is now just over 11” tall - woo hoo!! I’m both making faster time than I would’ve expected, ANNNND starting to feel like this thing could go on forever (for size L, the back panel needs to be 31” tall).

1/13/2015 - 12.5”! At 19” I have to learn about arm shaping - still a ways before I have to figure that out.

1/21/2015 - Just hit 19”! I needed a breather from this, so over an extended holiday weekend I also knit my first Irishmore cap.

1/31/2015 - The back panel is finished! Rather than completely binding off, I followed one user’s method of setting the “BO” stitches off on scrap yarn, hoping I haven’t made a huge mistake, and that I’ll be able to kitchener stitch the fronts and back together seamlessly.

2/1/2015 - I’ve made up two versions of the charted pattern for the front panels….this makes working my way up the cables so much easier. Maybe I’m being awfully picky about my first cardigan, but I felt like I should reverse the cables on one side so that they mirror the pattern on the other side. If anyone see this and wants the cable pattern charts, just let me know.

2/14/2015 - Front panels - FINISHED! Back and front panels - pinned out and steamed! During this process, I realized the steaming process I learned from Anne Hanson’s Craftsy class maybe WASN’T the smartest tactic - this yarn is 80% acrylic! There MIGHT be a couple signs of slight melting…only just a slight darkening of the yarn, no holes or anything. Plans are to seam the fronts and back, so basically a vest, before starting the sleeves just so I get a good feel for it. Took two weeks to finish those front panels - how long could the sleeves take?

Oh yeah, and perhaps I shouldn’t have been knitting cables while out sick with a cold this week. I goofed something. Thankfully it’s just one of the front panels has an “S” shape instead of “twist” in part of the cable. Not a huge deal….just didn’t realize it til about 16 rows later, and no way was I going back!

2/18/2015 - Still haven’t started those sleeves. Uh oh! I did get the tops and sides seamed late 2/16, and then wondered if maybe that wasn’t such a great idea. I’ve been working through some of Anne Hanson’s Craftsy classes on seaming, finishing, etc, and she briefly mentions that the sides should be done last. Oopsie.

3/1/2015 - Finally decided it was time to get back to this, but thanks to an arthritis flare up, didn’t make much progress. Got the 1” 1x1 ribbing done for both sleeve cuffs done, with most of the time spent trying to figure out how to best to a stretchy CO. Found a number of sites recommending the Stretchy Slip Knot Cast On, and after numerous rewatchings, and even trying it on my fingers (rather than needles), I finally got it down. Here’s a handy video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n8E3I6Cg2k