I’ve been using the Summer of Basics Makealong to propel my fall knitting for myself forward. Unfortunately I’ve been a little too excited about my knitting to sew up my dress but I will get there…eventually. In the meantime, how about another finished knit? The Pink Professor is off my needles, blocked and ready to become a wardrobe staple this year. And funny fact, although I am an adjunct professor I hardly ever wear a wool sweater in my classroom because it’s insanely hot. I’ll die of a heat stroke, so I typically teach in light layers.
And now on to the details…first I have to say that I love a lot of yarn but Madelinetosh is by far a favorite brand. Her colors are just out of this world and speak to me. Whenever she has a sale or I have the opportunity to get a sweater quantity at a discount (yarn.com is a particularly favorite site of mine) I jump at the chance. Knitting with good quality yarn makes such a difference and it makes you want to pick your needles up and knit on forever.
These are the last stages of the sweater since I posted about my process on sweater knitting. I moved quickly with this one just because it was such great yarn to work with.
I’m working on understanding short row shaping more and I figured the only way I could truly learn is to incorporate it in things I knit so I did it with a shawl collar this time. I’ve done it before but always find my collars don’t fold as well as I want, they’re just not as thick and deep (like how well the collar flips on my Royally Striped cardigan) as I always hope they’ll be when I’m finished. But it does look good on when it isn’t flipped down so I don’t mind the finished project but that just means I have to keep on testing and learning to get exactly what I want.
I also decided to add a faux seam detail to the sweater. It was such a simple and plain cardigan that I was trying to add little bits of detail here and there and this was simple a garter stitch stripe that runs down the side seam.
And once it was finished and blocked I really felt like it needed something else, so I added in an afterthought pocket. I had originally planned to make a pocket and then said no once I finished. But then I realized I only used 5 skeins of the 7 I had (just 1,000 yards) and used them up almost completely. And then I thought well I’ve got the yarn left…so I wound up another ball and whipped up two small pockets to add to the front. I tried to place them in the same spot on both ends and felt like I could’ve added them slightly further back but also didn’t want to get to close to the seam. Either way it’s nice to have something to throw my phone into or my hands into on a particularly chilly day. Pockets are always a good choice, right?
The other thing I’m super proud of is that I sketched this out and essentially made what I sketched. I wanted something with a bit of ease, super simple in structure and shape and with pockets. I’m always amazed that I can sketch something out and then make it a reality.
That’s the thing about knitting that I love so much, I can actually make clothes with my two hands. And I’ve finally gotten better at reading my swatch to determine length and ease so my sleeves hit me in just the right place! Sometimes they can be a bit short or way too long. I have enough ease in this to wear something underneath and it’s not too fitted in the sleeves, I wanted to make sure I had room to layer under this. I am super proud and when I make things like this with great success I just want to make more and more…and so I will. And on another note…I’ve been playing with the idea of doing a video podcast, to show more of my knitting and things in progress and talk about yarns and stuff that I just don’t do here. Would you be interested? Would you watch? Let me know so I can make a decision on what to do next!
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Yards of Happiness 
hi there, the sweater is beautiful and of course I would watch the podcast! you would be great at it… cant wait!
Well thank you. I’ve been asked about podcasts and listen to some but video is what I trained for in college and know I can do. Plus it’s knitting, you want to SEE what I’m talking about.
I love your sweater! It’s so cute on you.
I’ve gotten MadTosh yarn at Coveted Yarn on sale in the past. It’s worth signing up for their email and Facebook to hear about the sales. Robert, the owner is really nice and happily does mail order too.
A podcast would be great:)
I will have to add this store to my list! Madelinetosh also does some decent sales on her site too but you have to be quick!
What a great sweater!! I’d wear this ALL THE TIME! I’m so impressed that you’re envisioning what you want and then figuring out how to translate that into an actual knitted thing in the real world. That’s something I definitely need to get better at doing myself. I don’t watch any video podcasts right now, but that’s mostly because I like the control I have with reading – I can linger or speed ahead as I like. I don’t tend to have the patience to watch most video things. BUT! I would definitely watch any video podcast that you did. I’d expect guest appearances from Cher and Jelly, though. 😉
I have a feeling I’ll be wearing this one all the time. I love the color of the yarn so much. And lately I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts but I realized what I didn’t like about knitting ones is that I wanted to see what they were talking about. I walk to see the yarn, the FO’s and work in progress. And of course if I do video, Jellybean and Cher will be there right next to me.
of course I LOVE the yarn!!! The gold and teal ESPECIALLY!!! woohhooo!!! And I would DEFINITELY watch a DWJcast! You were MY inspiration for investing in premium yarns and not to be so afraid of color for MY projects and I have not looked back, so to hear more about yarn, colorplay, design, and knitting from someone who knows would be great! I know YT has lots to offer and so does Crftsy, but there’s nothing better than hearing it from someone you know and trust! 😉 Oh, one more thing . . . don’t leave the PP on your chair or in your office unattended 😉 Fair warning! 🙂
Note to self, do not take this cardigan off when worn to work on you will have to fight Lavon. LOL
Yes I would definitely love to see your video podcast become a reality! I love seeing your progress in pics and would be very interested to hear about how you go from idea to plan to swatch to wip to fo and how you decide which pieces you are building your wardrobe around, and of course how you decide what to knit for each of your special people too. Keep us posted!
Beautiful sweater! I love it.
It’s fantastic, everything about the cardi is great. The yarn, the shape, the collar – really love it!
Thank you 🙂
Love the sweater! ❤️
Thank you.
Yes!! Wonderful sweater and great idea to do video podcasts. Please talk more about the process of designing and swatching — matching yarn with pattern. Thanks!
Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll keep all that in mind.
Beautiful cardigan! Thank you for sharing the process of knitting it. I really enjoy how many marvelous modifications and touches you’ve added to the garment (pockets!). It definitely looks like a wardrobe staple that will get plenty of use through the years. So happy to have found your blog through the Fringe Association’s Summer of Basics post. Cheers, and happy knitting. 🙂
Thanks and I’m glad you found me too ☺️
Yes! I would watch your podcast IF it were something I could capture with my podcast app (I use PocketCast but, honestly, anything with an RSS feed will work). I have a tablet mounted above my sewing machine and podcasts are how I entertain myself while sewing. Video podcasts are the best and I’d love to actually see what you are doing.
I will keep that in mind and see what I can do!
Yes, I would watch!
Beautiful sweater, and YES to the podcast!
Yes to the Podcast!