Stripes

The Inspiration

Several years ago I saw a project on Ravelry that was using a cardigan from Anthropologie for inspiration.  Sadly, that project has never been completed, but it was nevertheless an inspiration to me, and I went on to begin to plan my own cardigan based on their inspiration.  In the past year or so, I've seen a lot of Missoni-type chevrons appearing everywhere, and while this particular cardigan is more of a ripple than a chevron, I still can't help but feel it might be received as trendy.  I don't think I've ever been trendy, before.

The Plan

I spent some time last fall perusing the Knit Picks website and came up with a collection of various fingering weight yarns that would work.  I was originally going to stick with the blue/neutral/brown colour scheme of the original, but somewhere along the way my own colour sensibilities set in (probably in combination with the colours available in the various yarns) and I ended up going with more of a blue/grey combo, with some purple thrown in for a pop of colour.  I worked up a plan for the stripes that reflected the tonal sensibilities of the original cardi.  Because I wanted to play not only with colour but also with texture, the yarns themselves are many and varied, including some Stroll sock (merino/nylon), some Palette (peruvian wool), some Gloss fingering (merino/silk), and some Aloft (mohair/silk.)

Unblocked ripples

I started knitting the sweater (in a simple feather and fan ripple) last fall and then stalled out for some reason when I started the sleeves.  I must have been distracted by another project, whether woven or knitted.  In the past couple of weeks, I rediscovered my inspiration, picked it up again and finished the sleeves in no time.  Of course once the sleeves are done, it's a simple matter (?) of joining the body and sleeves and knitting up some seamless set-in shoulders, a la Elizabeth Zimmermann.  All I have left now is the button band, which won't actually have buttons, since I'm going with the belted version of the original Anthropologie cardi.  I crocheted a simple striped belt and now just have to work out the math for the button band (since I'm overcomplicating things, as I usually do.)  I can't wait to show you the finished product!