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With 9 weeks left in this pregnancy, I really ought to be knitting sweet baby items, but alas, I keep getting drawn into selfish knitting. I'm not sure what has come over me, but I cannot stop!

Last week, I finished a cardigan for myself. Hannah Fettig's Contented Cardigan is a pattern that I have been staring at since she first released it in the Spring. It is a casual open cardigan with a little cabled detail on the back.  Knit in worsted weight yarn, this cardigan should fly off anyone's needles. I chose a yarn, Plymouth's Galway Worsted, that is not the kind of yarn to fly off needles. Instead, I found myself pushing it off my needles. What I mean to say is that although this is a terrific yarn, very rustic, warm and sturdy, it is not soft to work with and therefore slows a knitter down a bit.

Don't get me wrong! I'm quite happy with the end result. My Contended Cardigan is cozy, warm, and the kind of sweater you reach for every chilly morning. It just took a little longer to knit than I expected. That's okay. All's well that ends well.

If you do chose to knit with this yarn, which I totally recommend (it would be great for some hearty winter mittens or a classic aran sweater), just remember that the yarn will soften with blocking (like most yarns do). I was quite concerned when I finished knitting this sweater at the level of stiffness and feared that it would not drape as I hoped post-blocking. Happily, it transformed into a very wearable garment. 

Now I have to warn you, I am not usually this big, but again, I am 31 weeks pregnant, so bare that in mind when judging the picture.

It is only natural for a crafter or artist to judge and reflect upon his/her work as it develops and once it is complete. So with that in mind, I wish the sleeves were slimmer - they are a bit wide for my taste. I probably could have gone down a size ( I made the 40/L size) but I just couldn't bring myself to make a size 36. And although I really love this color yarn (color # 751 a deep charcoal gray- one of my favorite colors!), it masks the cable detail on the back.

See what I mean?


It will be interesting to see how this garment lays on me post-pregnancy.