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WIP: Playful Stripes Cardigan for Penelope

Remember WIP shares? Maybe they’re still happening somewhere, but for years my blog feed has been taken over by FOs – beautiful, carefully photographed ones—but still, no works in progress.

In any case, let’s pretend it’s 2006 again! So, grab your flip phone and let's go...

There’s no dirty mirror selfie with the ubiquitous giant flash, but it’s a crappy WIP shot nonetheless

For my niece’s 2nd birthday, my sister requested a knit sweater to replace the couple of baby sweaters she’s outgrown. I warned her I was a little backlogged, which she totally understood. Not sure she realized it would be ohh… six plus months before a sweater would appear, but better late than never, right?  Did I mention this was back in July?

In our house, there’s a lot of love for the somehow unblogged Ella Funt I made for Greta back when I was pregnant and was in constant wardrobe rotation until she was at least three.  Maybe four. I wasn’t messing around when I said there was a lot of love!  To try and recapture some of that magic, I selected a cardigan pattern with a nice, colorful yoke and a smallish gauge.

Ella Funt in Action

I found Playful Stripes in my usual fashion – the Ravelry pattern browser. I add a couple filters for age, sweater type, gauge (I knew I wanted either sport or dk), and added colorwork OR stranded and then sort by most popular because I have a high level of trust in my fellow raveler.  This is probably basic, but I’m always interested in other knitters’ processes, so now you have mine.

I ordered some Cascade 220 Superwash Sport because a) it was the right gauge, b) it’s superwash, c) I liked their color palette, d) it’s affordable, and e) Cascade is always a sure bet for me.  Separately – I had ordered right before our 10th anniversary trip to Costa Rica so I’d have some moderately-sized travel knitting and it arrived just in the knick of time. STRESS.

I’ve been making a few mods along the way – mostly instead of doing a picot edge I’m opting for a traditional 2x2 rib and I was one color short for the yolk, so I improvised the color scheme a bit.

I’m in the home stretch now with just one button band and blocking to complete. Gotta make sure Penelope gets in some wear before winter is over, right?


Separately on a happy note – I haven’t been knitting nearly as much as I used to and the girls’ interest is definitely piqued. Both are asking when they can expect their sweaters. Win!
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