We are starting a Knit-a-long for Fall: Hood Shawl Cardigan by Susanne Sommer. I have pre-knit the pattern to make sure it would be a good one to recommend to knitters at a wide variety of skill levels, which it is. This cardigan is knit top down with a really fun construction. Its made from fingering weight yarn. For the KAL we will be offering a kit for the sweater which includes 5 skeins of Ella Rae Lace Merino Solids and the pattern for $125 in three colours. Colour A(stripes and hem) & C(body) require 2 skeins and colour B(stripes and trim) just requires 1 skein. For locals join us Thursday nights from 6-8pm at knit night to see how all our KALers are progressing. For anyone who wants to join us online, use coupon code HoodieKAL to get the kit price when placing your order online and post your colours on instgram with #passionknit and #hoodieKAL and tag me @Passionknit . Please post progress shots as you go!
I truly love the unique construction of this sweater that starts like a big shawl and morphs into a top down sweater using short rows to fill in the body colour as you go. The pattern is well written, and easy to follow. I can't wait to see lots of different colour combinations knit up!
Modifications I made: I didn't change much as I knit this pattern, just two little alterations. 1. I liked my colour A better than my B, so I knit my sleeves with colour A instead of colour B, and for the cuffs I reversed colours B&A. You need two skeins of B even if you don't knit it this way.
2. I made the sleeves full length instead of 3/4 length. The pattern has you start the cuff as soon as you have completed all the decrease rows. I simply continued knitting straight once the decreases were done until I had the right length, and then I added the cuffs according to the pattern.
Yarn Quantity: 5 skeins of yarn is enough to knit the pattern as written or with both of my modifications for up to size 40" chest. It would be enough for the 42" chest size for colour A sleeves that were 3/4 length or colour C sleeves that were 3/4 or full length. If you want to knit the 42" chest size with long sleeves of either colour A or B I would recommend purchasing an extra skein of the colour you want to use for the sleeves.
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