Top-down cardigan experiment :)

I've enjoyed a couple of days to myself, now that all the cooking, eating and laughing is over and the young people have gone off to visit their grandparents or revise for exams. A few days to please myself and get back to knitting.

I bought this yarn some time ago during a sale. I wasn't sure whether there was enough of the deep red for a cardigan, so I bought an extra ball of the sand colour just in case. I've got much better at swatching this year. I'm a relaxed knitter with very loose tension, so I tend to start with needles about three sizes smaller for the tension swatch, and I'll knit a big swatch - maybe even the whole of one ball. For the first time, I achieved perfect tension (ie it matched the pattern) for the Cordial cardigan mentioned below.

I've wanted to make a top-down cardigan for a long time (what's not to like - no sewing and you can adjust the fit as you knit). More than anything, I wanted to understand the construction so that I could design and adapt the pattern in a multitude of ways. I didn't want to be constrained but someone's else's pattern, unable to change it because I didn't understand the underlying principles.

I came across this little set of videos on youtube: they are perfect.

A few weeks ago, I came across 100 Acts of Sewing, the website of Sonya Philip, an inspirational designer and maker. One of the many things I like about Sonya's work is the paring back of sewing garments to their essentials - no facings, interfacings, zips and fol-de-rols ... unless you want them. She creates basic patterns that can be adapted to suit your tastes and that provide a canvas for your imagination.

During the Autumn, I knitted a Rowan cardigan - Cordial, designed by Sarah Hatton - with similar minimalist lines (no neck or button bands, no ribbing, whole thing knitted in almost one piece), knitted in Big Wool, a super chunky wool that knits up gratifyingly quickly :) The pattern had a complicated cable, but I left that out and went for an all over moss stitch (easily my favourite texturing stitch).

This simplicity of approach is what I'm looking for in a top down cardigan.

Here's my early notes for calculating how many stitches to cast on, plus notes of J.s advice about tightening the neckline or managing 1:1 ribbing with an even number of stitches. She used the yarn over method for increases, I decided to use kfandb, which works really well with moss stitch. I decided to have a simple neckline, just cast on and one row of knit (purl on the right side).

I had a look on Ravelry and found Lorna Chau's Easy Top-Down Raglan, which looks gorgeous in Noro Silk Garden (this is a free pattern). This pattern suggests garter or seed stitch for the front bands which are five stitches wide (mine are seven), creating a buttonhole every two inches (ten centimetres). J has a different approach and creates a lacy pattern down both button bands, giving more flexibility for placing buttons.

My first attempt is too small, although there is enough stretch in the wool if I want to insist on buttoning up the top button! I'm pleased with the garter stitch bands and buttonholes, and kfandb increases work perfectly with moss stitch, creating either a knit line or purl line along the increases. In the sample the right side has purl, but I decided to change that in the next iteration.

I had a slight problem with the stitch markers as well - the needles are just a little too big, so I change these to scraps of waste yarn in a contrasting colour. This is very easy and relaxing to knit; it's easy to check where you are up to (increases on alternate rows, in this case on the right side). One tip from J was to round up your stitches so they are divisible by four ... it works!