Flower Child Cardigan

Flower Child Cardigan

04.24.20

KNITTING

Handmade

Last month, my amazing daughter turned nine and like the artist and maker that I am, I could not resist the opportunity to create some handmade gifts for her. At the beginning of the month, I was on the fence about whether or not I could realistically knit her a sweater by the time her birthday came around. I needed to decide on a design and pattern (I’m a major over thinker so this takes days and sometimes weeks), order supplies, and get the whole thing made in just under four weeks. It seemed like a stretch but I decided to go for it anyway.

I spent some time thinking about her birthday being in spring and the woods behind our home where the undergrowth fills out at this time of year, first with lush green plants and then dotted with wildflowers blooming. I also thought about how much my girl LOVES picking flowers when she plays outside and is constantly bringing fistfuls of them inside for me as bouquets. These visuals were my inspiration when I selected a design plan for her sweater. I have been wanting to try embroidering on a hand knit for some time (this talented maker’s instagram feed provides endless inspiration). Since Caroline has really loved other cardigan sweaters I have made for her, I chose a plain cardigan pattern and planned to embroider on top of the pockets as a design detail.

I didn’t follow any specific tutorial for the embroidery but cobbled together an approach after reading lots of different things online. I sketched out designs on paper first to make sure the scale would be correct for the area of the pocket, and transferred them onto water soluble stabilizer. I placed the tracing on the stabilizer over the fabric in the desired area, secured it with an embroidery hoop, and got to work. You can see day by day photos of the process of the making of this sweater on my Instagram story highlights.

There were many times along the way when I fretted about whether or not this would turn out the way that I hoped, but now that it is finished I can say that it is even better than I could have imagined. I love the gold rimmed pearl buttons, the design and finished look of the pockets, and of course, the embroidery. I can’t wait to experiment more with embroidery on my handmade garments, both sewn and knit items. Have you ever embroidered a piece of clothing to add visual interest?

My Notes

Fit

Absolutely perfect. I made her the 9-10 year old size, and it fits just right. Not too big, but it has enough room that she should be able to wear it for a while.

I did knit a gauge swatch because I was using a yarn fairly different from what was recommended and I ended up using very different needles than what the pattern called for as well. As you can see, it all worked out!

Pattern

This is a fabulous pattern, and works well for any gender. I love the raglan yoke and I am obsessed with the method for the seamless pockets. They look great and were really fun to knit.

I have mixed feelings about the button band method. This pattern calls for “afterthought” buttonholes, where you basically sew in the buttonholes after the whole pattern is knit. I don’t think this is the nicest finish and I am certain this is the cause for the scalloped appearance of the button band when the cardigan is buttoned up. That said, I actually really like the scalloped look in this instance. However, if I was going for a classic cardigan with straight lines, I would opt for some other buttonhole method.

Difficulty

This was a pretty simple knit and would be good for an advanced beginner. Nothing about it is very complex but there are a lot of classic techniques included.

Flower Child Cardigan
Flower Child Cardigan
Flower Child Cardigan
Flower Child Cardigan
Flower Child Cardigan
01/05
Flower Child Cardigan
Flower Child Cardigan
Flower Child Cardigan
Flower Child Cardigan
Flower Child Cardigan
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  • Flower Child Cardigan
    Flower Child Cardigan
  • Flower Child Cardigan
    Flower Child Cardigan
  • Flower Child Cardigan
    Flower Child Cardigan
  • Flower Child Cardigan
    Flower Child Cardigan
  • Flower Child Cardigan
    Flower Child Cardigan
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