The Holographic Cardi Goes Home

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who sent me good birthday wishes! As birthdays go, it was a pretty nice one. To help me celebrate, my parents came to visit over the weekend. This gave me some motivation to finish up a project that just needed a few little things to be completed... like weaving in a million ends. So while my folks were out at the motorcycle show that was in Chicago this weekend, I got my act in gear and put an end to those ends.

It's always nice to be able to show a sweater on the intended recipient. So here's Mom showing off her sweater. See how happy she is to have me finish this sweater?

Holographic Cardigan Finished!

Here's a couple of shots from the side that show off the stealth elements of this sweater:

Holography from the Side

But from the back it almost looks like just a striped sweater:

Shadow Boxes Cardigan from the Back

It still amazes me that even though I know those boxes are there, unless I am looking at it the right way, even I can't tell that there is something special about this sweater.

This is a clever sweater from a construction perspective. Maureen Mason Jamieson added some elements that definitely make this piece look a lot more polished when it is finished. The button band is a double thickness, which makes it easier to attach and stabilize a button. There are actually two buttons -- one decorative one on the front and one on the back of the opposite tab, and this helps stabilize the closure. And she included selvedge stitches everywhere necessary to make the seaming easier.

While the garter stitch aspects of this sweater can get a little monotonous, the result is a very nice sweater. The Shelridge Farm yarn is nice to work with -- not to soft, not too hard... a little softer than Shetland, but still firm. The fact that it is hand dyed means that there are subtle shading variations in it. Which adds a little more depth to the sweater.

What did I learn?

• Well, I still don't like to weave in ends.
• The Japanese Three Needle Bind Off
• Button bands with a double thickness make for excellent supports for you favorite closures -- especially heavier buttons. I'll be remembering this technique in the future.
• It's obvious that the designer put a lot of thought into the finishing aspects of this sweater. This is a very good reminder that doing a lot of thinking beforehand can lead to a better finished product. Nothing was left to chance in this sweater -- and, as a result, I got to give my mom a sweater that I think is gorgeous and that looks "handmade" but not "homemade".
• Did I mention that I still don't like weaving in ends?

And in case you were wondering who that last Angel scarf was for...

Dad and his Fuzzy Bunny Scarf

Mom wasn't the only one to go home with knitted presents. Dad got both the Rowan Polar scarf and my most recent Angel scarf. I think it goes quite well with his new motorcycle jacket.

There's still more to talk about from the weekend... but I'll continue with that tomorrow. Right now, there's some Manos waiting to run through my fingers.