Pattern Testing the Amethyst Grace Cardigan

This is probably Laura of White Willow Wearables‘ best pattern to date! I was a little on the fence about applying to test knit this cardigan because I had A LOT of other projects on the go. But, it had a really long testing period, so I figured I could manage – this can be an important feature when you’re looking for test knitters.

The other thing I needed to consider was my repeated proclamation that I was going on a yarn diet. Testing would definitely mean I would have to buy yarn. I mean look at this thing, that’s a lot of yarn! But I went to Michael’s and spent a ridiculously large amount of time squishing and comparing colours of ALL the category 4 yarns. And there are a lot of them. And they all look like they are very different weights. I finally settled on Bernat Super Value in Denim Heather. There were a few advantages to choosing this one:

• High yardage, which means fewer joins and ends to weave in!
• It’s cheap
• It doesn’t have dye lots, which means I could buy balls one at a time and not worry about matching, and use a 40% or 45% off coupon with each ball, making it even cheaper!

Yup. The yarn for this cardigan ended up costing me $13.40. That’s Canadian of course. So I think in USD that means Michael’s would have paid me to take that yarn (lol).

Most of the projects I’ve done lately have been in the round, which means there’s very little purling. So a bit of a drawback to a cardigan is a lot of purling (I’ll have to learn to steek soon I guess). Plus to get that big squishy shawl collar, there’s ribbing. So yeah, this isn’t a super quick knit. That being said, those knitting the larger sizes (I made a medium) finished astonishingly quickly!

But even if it’s slower for you it’s worth it! I think in part from the yarn, and in part from the pattern, the finished product looks very store-bought! It fits very well and is incredibly warm and comfortable. I love that the bottom has good “bum-hug-ability”.

I got to learn how to do a provisional cast on for this project, and I still marvel at how Laura managed to figure out how to work that in to make the shawl collar, the construction is very clever!

Tips for success:

• GAUGE – I know almost everyone out there has a post on how important this is, but category 4 is a BROAD category. I had to go up a full mm for my needles because my yarn was on the smaller side of 4. Don’t do all that work for nothing!
• Try it on at every length checkpoint. Our bodies vary considerably, so again, don’t do all that work for nothing! I added 10 rows to the body and 17 rows to the arms.

So all in all, take some time and make yourself a beautiful, cozy, Amethyst Grace cardigan.