Wednesday, May 21, 2014

I'll wear something pretty and white

Kina cardigan

This little cardigan for my niece was made, not long after Christmas, out of some mystery yarn. It was one of those 'allsorts' packets at Lincraft that are almost always awful stuff. This one I bought years ago, thinking it looked and felt a lot like a 4ply cotton. Once I finally started knitting with it, I realised it must have at least some acrylic in it. And when I washed the finished garment and it dried very quickly, I started to wonder if it is actually all acrylic. There are some nicer acrylic yarns that can feel quite cotton-y.

Kina heart card

In any case, the colours are fun for a nearly-6-year-old, and when I showed it to her after I had just started knitting, she pointed out all the colours that will go with clothing she owns. I really like the orange (and green) to temper the pink. I'm not against pink, but there is so much of it in the life of a little girl.

Pocket

The pattern is Kina from Kids Tricots. Early in the piece, she asked if it could have pockets, so I figured out how to add those using instructions from Studio Knits.

pocket inside

I actually had a drastic false finish on this one. Somehow, when I measured the length on her, I did a stunningly bad job (it was Boxing Day, we were all tired) and I ended up finishing the cardigan way too short. The length was cropped and the too-tiny pockets were up around her ribs! Luckily it's knit top-down, so there was a bit of ripping and reknitting, but it wasn't too hard to fix, and this time I made the pockets a good bit bigger and deeper. I just felt terrible for telling her it was all done, and then having to take it back home for more knitting.

Kina cardie for niece

1 comment:

Donna Lee said...

Those are such beautiful bright colors. The older I get, the more I tend to lean toward the brights. Maybe I don't want people to take me too seriously?

(and the Fir Cone shawl pattern calls for dk/sport weight yarn. The one in the book is sport I think. I like the generous size of it-or I do until I get to that last border section)