Unst Cardigan
I’ve finally written down a post about the elusive Unst cardigan! On my needles since spring 2018 this colourwork beast was completed early 2020. It even fits! You could argue that it does not fit as intended as i was quite a bit smaller when i cast it on - but hey - if i can button it now that’s what matters right?
The Unst cardigan is an all over colourwork design by Marie Wallin, a designer that keeps crowding my knitting queue.
#unstcardigan
Pattern: Unst
Designer: Marie Wallin
Yarn: Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift
Colourways: 119 Sholmit Mooskit, 232 Blue lovat, 246 Wren, 567 Damask, 763 Pacific, 1190 Burnt Umber, 323 Cardinal, 273 Foxglove,
147 Moss, 252 Birch, 230 Yellow ochre
Cut them steeks
This pattern calls for it to be knit flat, but I decided to convert to knitting in the round as the prospect of colourwork on the purl side was making my head ache.
I ended up putting in a total of four steeks on the main body; center front, armholes and neckline. This worked out pretty well while knitting and using such a great rustic wool I had no fear of them unravelling when cutting open. Still I did crochet a reinforcement as explained in the back of the Shetland pattern book.
The downside with steeks comes in the finishing of the garment.
Sleeve cap drama
It took me a whole year and a pandemic to work up the courage/ boredom needed to tackle the sleeve cap shaping. Me not understanding the decrease instruction in Wallin’s patterns seems to a repeating affair. There is something about “ends” and “Xth” row that just messes with my head. I much prefer charts over written instructions. I will not lie - there were tears knitting and re-knitting these sleve caps. But in the end i prevailed and managed to knit my very first set in sleeve. Not only that I managed to make friends with purling colourwork. At least that tiny bit needed to finish off the caps.
Seaming the sleves onto the body was another bit of sleeve cap scariness I was not looking forward to, very worried it would all turn wonky and not having the pattern line up nicely. Thankfully this was explained pretty well in the back of the pattern book, and along with some helpful YouTube videos i did manage to do a passable seam on both sides.
