Dude, totally finished the Eyelet Cardigan!

I finished the eyelet cardigan I had been working on since May. Essentially it's been adapted to be a touch longer to go down over my hips. I'll have to post up pictures once I've figured out if I'm going to block it or not. I'm sure I'll be able to get a picture or two taken of it at this Sunday's wedding with the intended black and white polka-dot dress that I was going to wear underneath it. Overall this is my first cardigan that I finished that actually fit me with or without blocking! I don't know what to say other then this is so freaking awesome!


I was almost worried that I wasn't going to finish it either before Sunday given the fact that this whole week I hadn't gotten a chance to knit since the drama-llama decided to visit my group of friends and refuse to go away without first defacebooking the whole lot of us then trying to make us all say sorry and whatnot for nothing more than random madness that if I were to go into detail it would take a whole new level of journaling that would detract me from the awesome that is my cardigan. Besides, llamas are generally pretty good creatures. Don't get me wrong, some of the best yarns have a touch of llama! Okay, not any though in my stash at current...I mostly have some wool or wool blended with alpaca. Hell, even an alpaca mixed with silk and one that's merino but not a touch of llama fiber in my stash. Perhaps it's for the best that I stay away from llamas for a bit just until the mental image of the drama-llama finally erases himself from the group's mind. Just the mere mention of the name that belongs to this past week's drama-llama makes the whole lot of us get stomach aches and churns!

I tell ya, the best times for me to knit is when I'm stressed because it fills me with such a large amount of calming bliss but when I'm just too stressed then the sad peeking of my needles out of my bag just makes me sigh and turn my head away to contemplate on other things like how to make the drama-llama go away for good. Blah.

Well, with today being as relaxing as it was drama-free with my friends I was able to finally take out my needles and just tinker away at the cardigan. I managed to finish the final sleeve and I thought to myself that this was easier than I last remembered. Suddenly I had a button band done and soon all the buttons attached. Doing the other button band with the slits took some trying since I had to look through every book and even the pattern to the cardigan itself proved little help. I came to the conclusion though from several authors that doing buttons suck. This was reinforced even by the pattern author who decided to leave the the final notes on how to install the buttons as a complete mystery left to your own imagination! As a beginner to buttons and cardigans this was supposed to be my biggest stressful challenge but given this past week this was a welcome challenge that I tackled and tackled quite well for myself.

It's so soft and cozy. It's a little itchy around the sensitive parts of my arms but I guess that's to expect out of Cascade 220 from what I gathered from other knitters. It's 100% Peruvian Highland Wool in a tweadish green although perhaps a picture would be a better example when I can get my camera things set up. Overall it's definitely a keeper of a cardigan and the buttons look wonderful on it. I'm really just happy with how the yarn took to the pattern's eyelets. It has amazing stitch definition! I love the cardigan so much I'm just all cozy in it right now even though it's in the middle of summer in the house with it on.

I'll admit that there is something magical about wearing a hand-knit item larger than a hat or scarf like this cardigan that honestly fits my body. From past experiences I've had way too many failed attempts at sweaters that it's finally nice to create something that's a winner!