What George Knits - The Longfellow Cardigan

I never was into cardigans until I knit the Playdate in 2016. I love that cardigan and have worn it non stop ever since. So I think its high time that I knitted a new one.

Not wanting to knit the same pattern again I came across the Longfellow by Michele Wang (Ravelry link). This simple cardigan is very similar to the Playdate but differs in certain ways. Its knit flat and in pieces and then seamed together creating a neat and well finished design. You may have noticed on the blog in April last year I wrote a blog post about swatching. Well the project I was swatching for was this one! 11 months later it is finished.

I loved this pattern. It is so well written, technical and precise and everything is thought about. It's not too tricky but there are some things I learnt from knitting it. I have never done a tubular cast on before which I think looks great. As well as doing a tubular bind off over 369 stitches. It's one for those who like stocking stitch worked flat as there is a lot of it in this design. These parts are simple and perfect TV knitting. The shaping in the sleeves are a little bit more complicated, but a locking stitch marker placed in the increased row and a handy row counter helped me keep track of where I was. Choose a yarn you will love and just enjoy knitting it.

There is patience required for this pattern but enjoyably so. It speaks of slow fashion and taking care in the making. A project where you enjoy every stitch. There was something about blocking all the pieces separately before sewing them together that I also really enjoyed. I would recommend reading though this pattern thoroughly before you start. There is a lot in there but it is all fully described. Each special technique is well written. I would also recommend taking time to properly swatch so that everything fits together at the end. If you don't like seaming then this is not for you. One thing I noticed is I had to be careful that I wasn't pulling too tight when sewing up or I found it distorted my seams. Checking regularly helped even things out.

The yarn I chose was John Arbon Devoina 4ply. A yarn that has been on my knit list for ages.

It has the most amazing range of sumptuous heathered jewel tones. John Arbon are a Devon based mill and the fibre for this blend is sourced locally to them. It contains Exmoor Blueface, Devon Bluefaced Leicester and Devon Wensleydale. Worsted spun it is soft but still rustic with a very slight halo after blocking. Each fibre bringing its own quality to the yarn. For me it is the richness of colour this yarn has, It is so lovely. I chose the colour Pollen Gold, perfect for spring!