FO: Pagoda Asymmetrical Cardi

I heart the Malabrigo. I heart it. I've been busy at work and just got this cardi done under the gun for Project Spectrum's Fire theme.

Pagoda Cardi
Pattern: Asymmetrical Cardigan from Knitting Nature
Yarn: Seven skeins Malabrigo Worsted in color "Pagoda"
Needles: US 8 and US 9
Extras: Three wooden buttons from Annie and Co.

There weren't really any mods worth highlighting. I lengthened the ribbing on the bottom. That's about it. I originally thought I'd make it symmetrical, but then I thought it would lose its appeal. Now I think it's kind of fun how it gets lopsided while I wear it.

I tried to mimic the photos in the book, but it's cloudy out and I have no tripod. I did put on a dress underneath the sweater. But somehow, it just looks like I'm wearing a big fluffy cardi over a nightie. Durn.

I also love the subtle shading of the Malabrigo colors. This photo captures the true color:

My one regret is that I didn't knit the collar longer. Since the collar is knit up separately and then move into the button bands, I followed the instructions and didn't realize until I was sewing it up that I couldn't just go back and knit the collar some more, which I could have if I had picked up stitches and knit the collar out. But overall, the pattern was easy to follow and fairly easy memorize. By the time I'd finished the first three repeats, I no longer had to refer back to the chart.

The one problem I can see is that the arrows pointing to where in the chart you should begin your pieces are kind of...ambiguous. The arrows seem to point to the lines in between squares and this confused me greatly. Was I supposed to start with the square to the left or right of the arrow? In the end, I just kind of said, "What the hey." I guessed and it didn't turn out too crazy.

Since I didn't really know what square I'd started the fronts with, I had to adjust the cast-on stitches for the back neck. By that point, I knew exactly how many stitches I needed per repeat of the chart and I ended up taking out maybe ten or so stitches. Then I worked down to the correct number of stitches for the back and sort of fudged everything when it came to seaming.

I found pretty wood buttons at Annie's:

Folded up the cuffs for more practical wear. The sleeves come out super long (I made the medium size) and the whole cardi is pretty big. But it's cozy and nice and definitely warm.

I tested it out by sitting in my armchair with a good book. Verdict: Malabrigo and Norah Gaughan score an A+++.

Now on to finish my other giant Norah Gaughan project for Project Spectrum's Earth!