Ariann

Finally I got buttons, and it’s done!

• - Pattern: Ariann from ChicKnits
• - Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, 5 balls
• - Needles: Clover Takumi, US size 6 & 7

The cardi in the picture looks a little disproportionate, because I photographed it on a bumpy place… but it looks perfectly fine when I put it on. I tried to take a picture wearing it, but every picture came out as “my pregnant belly picture”, not as a cardi picture, so I gave up. 

I saw someone made Ariann with Cotton-Ease at ChicKnits blog and thought the yarn would be suitable for spring knitting, but it was a little hard for me to knit the yarn into 19sts/4″ stockinette stitch. The pattern didn’t provide the gauge in the stitch pattern, of which the entire garment consisted, so I pondered… Stockinette stitch gauge doesn’t mean much -at least for me- for purposes of knitting other kinds of stitch patterns. Normally, I avoid the garment patterns which provide only stockinette stitch gauge for other stitches. However, it was impossible to predict what size I’d be when the cardi would be done (ah the pregnancy!), and I really liked Ariann, I thought I’d just go with the flow.

I decided to knit it with the needle which got the gauge 17sts/10cm (yarn ball band suggestion), and chose the second smallest size for the width, and adjusted the length as I knitted. I changed the collar from garter stitch to rib, and lengthened it (if I chose the garter collar with the original length, I only needed 4 balls of Cotton-Ease!). The garter collar didn’t look good on me… Also, the height of the waistline and the button placement are different from the original too.

As a result, I think my Arianne looks more casual than the original, but it’s OK. I did some unravelling and re-knitting, and fortunately I really like the finished garment! I’d love to knit another one, next time with wool yarn perhaps.

The things I’d change next time:

• - The knitted fabric was a bit on the loose side. Maybe I should knit with the needles for 19sts/4″, and choose the actual bust size if I knit it with Cotton-Ease again.
• - Shorten the sleeves a bit.