caramel cardigan

June 19, 2013




Caramel, an open cardigan designed by Isabel Kraemer offered as a free download on Ravelry.  The pattern is super easy and top down.  I love the faux side seam detail that mimics the raglan increases.  I usually add a few short rows to the back of a top down sweater like this, but for some reason I didn't do that and now wish I had, it would have hung better.  Still, a great throw on sweater for milder weather.  My Ravelry link for the project here.  A little about Isabel, if you haven't friended her on Ravelry, you should, her pattern page is filled with some beauts and she is very prolific.  She test knits for favorite designers and when she creates her own patterns, she often offers it for free.  I love keeping up with her work.

The yarn is the great Rowan Calmer, that lovely 75% cotton and 25% microfiber blend that everyone loved.  It's not like any other cotton, extremely soft and easy on the hands, very elastic and bouncy and with excellent yardage.  It does not pill!  When Calmer first came out in 2004 I knit a complicated cable pullover for tennis.  It was washed almost weekly and hardly a whimper did it make.  I've since used it for several cabled designs because Calmer really shows off when it's been maneuvered into a cable.  The stitches lay flat and hug each other filling up all the airholes with softness even while it has excellent stitch definition.  It was a perfect yarn to use for that wool look without the wool warmth.  Oh Calmer, why were you discontinued?  (I have enough yardage in my stash for a few more sweaters, I got carried away when I heard it was being discontinued.) 

Open cardigans are always easy to wear but never easy to photograph, still I think you get the idea.  Caramel is very casual, very fun.  Two more FOs to post here, hopefully this week I can get my hubs to photograph Opaline in Rowan Softknit Cotton and Praline in Summerspun in the garden.  They are just too pretty to get the computer picture treatment.

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7 Comments

  1. Love it! Naval stripes are so hip right now, too. And thanks so much for the no-pill review of
    Calmer... I still see bags around for sale, and have always wondered. People LOVE that yarn!

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  2. I love this! (My love of navy and white stripes is well-documented!) I have lots of leftover Calmer as well so I'll keep this in mind as a "using up the bits" project.

    Coincidentally, I just cast on a new sweater this morning using Calmer!

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  3. This has been on my list for a while - seeing yours has made me want to make it NOW!

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  4. I love that sweater!!!!

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  5. Calmer, another fabulous yarn that was discontinued....I wonder why this happens.....

    Gorgeous sweater.....navy AND white! Looks great on you!

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  6. I would love to hear where you place the short-rows in the back of an open cardigan to make it hang better, and how many you generally add. Please follow up with some instructions. I love your blog, so keep the great posts coming!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely Lori, I will do that. I will in the next day or so and will edit my post and let you know when I do. I do need to be more specific sometimes.

      Delete

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