Vogue Ruffled Cardi

Pattern: Ruffled Cardigan, by Faith Hale, Vogue Spring/Summer 2009

Yarn: Patons Brilliant, 5.5 skeins (if I remember correctly)

Needles: US 6

The recommended yarn for this piece is Tilli Thomas Disco Lights, which is a stunning silk yarn with sequins. However, the $40 per skein price tag makes this little cardi a luxury item pretty fast.

For mine I chose a more economical yarn - Patons Brilliant - in a light blue from my stash. It has silver thread running through, which gives it a little sparkle like the Disco Lights. Other than price, the biggest difference in the Tilli Thomas and the Patons is drape. Patons Brilliant knits up a stiffer fabric than the Tilli Thomas, but it worked OK for this piece. The Patons Brilliant is a chain-constructed yarn and it is very splitty, making is a bit of a pain to work with at times.

I did go up a needle size to get recommended gauge for this project. I also made a few mods to the pattern. I knit 6 row ruffle repeat a total of 4 times and then I knit three rows in garter stitch, binding off on the last row. This helps the ruffle from rolling backwards a bit. And since the hem on the lower sweater edge is also knit in garter stitch it works pretty well.

My biggest mod was the sleeves. I did not like the funky sleeve cap at all. I frogged back and knit straight. Then I added a short-row ruffled sleeve cap instead.

I like how this piece turned out. It fits great. However, this is not a piece I'll be able to grab from my closet, throw on and rush out the door. It does take a bit of time to adjust the ruffles so they drape evenly.