Auditions

If you scroll through the vintage and contemporary galleries of this blog, there’s one thing which you won't see much. Black. I very rarely wear it now, and I suspect that a big part of the reason why Butterick 7598 is taking me so long is the colour.

However while solid, all-over, black is something I avoid, I'm quite happy with black-ish items such as my absurd-but-fabulous 1970s blouse. So when I decided that I could really do with a black cardigan, I looked for a wool along those lines. And found Sirdar Haworth Tweed in Hepworth Slate, a marled dark grey with flecks of grey and rust. It's just what I wanted.

Gauge swatch - the orange threads mark the area to be measured

Yes, I am planning yet another Wondrella (as I suspected when I started the first one, it's a pattern I'm happy to have in multiple colours). But I want to do something a little different with this one. I've noticed that a single column of pattern, usually a cable or lace design, up each side of the front is a feature on a lot of 1950s cardigans.

Lavenda cardigan with lace panels

The Dolman Shortie by Subversive Femme is a particularly good example.

This is on my 'to knit' list

Sometimes the pattern runs up the sleeves as well.

From a 1958 issue of Stitchcraft

So, I decided that I would like to add this feature to the Wondrella. But what pattern to use? When I was in York in the spring, I went to Duttons for Buttons (of course) and bought, among other things, this book.

So many possibilities!

It's a wonderful library of stitch patterns: textured; lace; cables; slip stitches and novelty. To narrow the choice down a little, I wrote out the pattern for the cardigan fronts in my size row by row, and then used this to draw out a chart.

Right front in chart form

The main section of the front is only 36 stitches, with four of those knitted in a ribbed edging for the front opening, so I didn't want anything too wide. It is 88 rows long, so I discounted any very long patterns, as they would have very few repeats and would be tricky to position in a way which looked right. Finally, the author has helpfully labelled some of the patterns as 'easy'. This means that the wrong side row is either all purl, or 'knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches' from the previous row. As I still regard myself as a novice knitter, I decided to limit myself to 'easy' patterns only. Finally of course, it had to be a pattern I liked.

Based on all this, I identified nine possible patterns. I then bought an extra ball of wool, and set about knitting samples to see how easy they were to knit, and how well they worked with the yarn.

For each pattern there is a clear photograph, knitting instructions, and a diagram.

Ukuleles pattern

So far, I have completed three of my possible choices.

Two colums of ukuleles on a purl background

Diamonds with openwork

Chain links on a purl background

Once I have completed all the samples, the main contenders will go through to the 'next round' where I knit them up as full swatches to check if they alter the gauge. Who knew I would ever get so into knitting?!