It probably looks as though I’ve made nothing but baby cardigans lately and I’m about to show you two more that are just off the needles.
The pattern is Honey Bee Jacket by OGE Knitwear Designs. This is from the same designer as the Norwegian Fir Cardigan I made late last year. I enjoyed knitting this pattern even more than I did Norwegian Fir – it’s a quick knit with enough happening to keep things interesting.
The cardigan is worked in one piece from the top down and the front features a “knit one below” stitch. I didn’t read the pattern notes and assumed this meant to knit into the stitch below, but it’s more like “knit two below” as the pattern is worked two stitches down.
After I undid my work and read the pattern correctly, it was smooth sailing. The buttonholes for the size I made lined up with every third repeat of the stitch pattern so counting was easy. The only change I made was to the decreases along the underside of the sleeves. The pattern calls for two k2tog decreases worked at either end of the round. I replaced this with a k2tog and a ssk at either end of the round, one stitch in.
The green jacket is made with Cleckheaton Australian Superfine Merino in the colour Lichen. The buttons are vintage 1930s plastic from L’ucello. The fawn one is made in Morris and Sons Cantera 8ply cotton in the colour Meringue and the buttons are varnished wood from Lincraft. Although I used the same needles, same pattern size and same pair of hands to knit both jackets, the fawn one is a full inch wider and longer than the green one. This is because cotton doesn’t stretch and spring back as stitches are worked the way merino does.
The size difference doesn’t worry me at all. Babies grow out of things so quickly that I’ll be happy if they fit the intended wearers for a month or two. It has made me much more likely to knit a tension square for future projects though.
