I have no words.

Well, maybe a few words. This is my Marion, a lovely cardigan pattern by Andi Satterlund. I knit it out of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Worsted in the Dove Heather colorway. I love it. I absolutely love it! I can’t believe how it fits, I can’t believe I knit it in 72 hours, and I can’t believe how much I hate sewing on buttons. Seriously, that wasn’t fun. But back to the good stuff.

I used the yarn that the pattern calls for, and I knit the sweater on 4.0 mm (US 6) needles. I got perfect gauge with my swatch, but after knitting the sweater I think I knit it a bit tighter than my swatch–maybe 4.5 stiches/inch versus the recommended 4.25 stitches per inch. I was a bit nervous about the fit, particularly because I made a fair amount of modifications to the waist shaping and length. But it fits like a glove, if I do say so myself.

I knit the sweater about 4 inches longer than the pattern. From reading Andi’s blog, I knew that the waist shaping would need quite a bit of modification. I followed her recommendations, and took out several waist decreases, knit plain for a few inches, and then added in some hip increases. It took a bit of finagling to get the math to work out right for the button band, but wasn’t too hard. I’ve written out exactly what I did for the shaping on my project page.

The other modifications I made were to use 8 buttons instead of 4, I used german short rows, and I accidentally swapped my m1L and m1R. The backward increases aren’t the end of the world, but hopefully I’ll remember the correct direction next time.

This pattern was beautifully written,  easy to follow, and easy to modify. One thing I especially loved is her method for seamless set-in sleeves. It was incredibly easy and intuitive. I think they turned out great.

They yarn is lovely. It’s 100% wool, so it’s not baby soft, but after blocking it softened up considerably. I love the wooly feel of it. The yarn is also very affordable, a great choice for a sweater like this. I’m already planning a sweater for Astra in this yarn for the fall. She wants orange, of course.

I just adore these buttons. I ordered them for the sweater but wasn’t sure they’d work. They are handmade by Natalie of Remembrances Pottery. I think they’re a really sweet touch alongside the cables. Like the whole sweater, they’re not fancy, but just perfectly special.

While it’s certainly not sweater weather, I’m having a great time stocking up for the fall. This has been more than a few words, but I would highly recommend this pattern and yarn for anyone looking to knit a fun, quick, affordable, and cute cardigan.

Happy making!