Couronne

I found this cardigan pattern on Ravelry and fell in love. Hard, fast, need-you-in-my-life-NOW type Love. (Have I mentioned that Ravelry is an even more dangerous black hole than Pinterest?)

While it definitely isn't a French Wardrobe Basic, the 'Couronne' cardigan was just too pretty not to make, so I did something unprecedented: I broke my Only-Using-Free-Patterns rule and actually paid for the pattern.

I'm not sure if it will fit into my permanent wardrobe or if it will be a seasonal piece I break out for chilly weather, but I love cardigans, and it looks nice with jeans and tights, so I'm pretty sure it will be in heavy rotation one way or the other.

 

A few things I need to say, however: first, I'm not in super-duper-love with the hem and the cuffs (three rows of purl and bind of in purl) and I probably won't do another project that has ones like this because they need to be blocked or they roll up and I hate blocking; second, I need to practice my colour work because up close you can tell my tension on the contrast colour is too tight; third, while I love wool (even the kind most people think it too scratchy to abide), I am dying to make something soft and fuzzy out of some delicious alpaca, cashmere, or angora yarn. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for some in black to make myself a classic black cardigan. Possible birthday present to self.

Money spent: ~28$ for the contrast wool; the main wool was given to me by my friend and co-worker, Helen.

Time spent: Probably about 50 hours? I worked on it in bursts from mid-February until mid-March.

Firsts: First adult-size top-down cardigan. First big colour work project.