Ok, so I know the plural of quail is quail, but the word QUAILS has such a satisfying sound. It is very nearly an expletive: Quails! And, while quail is the name of the stitch pattern used on the yoke of this cardigan, QUAILS is the word I was shouting as I ripped the damn thing back and started over again for the third time.
This cardigan was born out of bad planning. I just didn’t take time to figure out the whole design before I sat down to make it. I began by knitting a pair of sleeves in the round. Then I made a slightly-flared stockinette body, knitted back and forth to the armholes, inserting six short rows at the chest on each side so that the yoke would dip down at the front. So far so good: but then it was yoke time. I wanted some texture, and had decided that the thing for me was the yoke on Norah Gaughan’s phyllo sweater (ravelry link). So I had to work out how to adjust the traveling stitches and yoke decreases to accommodate the cardigan front opening. After two mathematical evenings, steam was starting to come out of my ears, but I thought I had it, and charted it up accordingly. Then I tried to knit the yoke and it turned out to be a total pile of QUAILS. I recalculated, re-attempted — again, the stitches just wouldn’t travel! So I ditched the phyllotaxis with a renewed respect for Norah’s sheer mathematical GENIUS and started again, this time with a butterfly stitch pattern. Again, I somehow thought that I had figured out how to work the yoke decreases into the pattern, but clearly I hadn’t. . . and in any case, the butterfly stitch looked completely QUAILS anyway, so I ripped back the yoke yet again.
Finally, I discovered the quail cable in a stitch dictionary. Even I can manage inserting a few decreases inbetween some regularly placed cables, so I just went for it, adding eight steek stitches in at the front and working the whole thing in the round. The quail stitch wasn’t quite what I wanted when I started out, but it would do. I chopped up the steeks , added some button bands, and finally I had a cardigan. Here is the yoke from the back.
. . . here is one of the painted leather buttons I chose:
And heres me in quails
Given the sheer brain-ache it gave me, I am reasonably pleased with the end result, but if I were knitting it up again I’d do a few things differently: 1) sit down and actually plan things properly first 2) place the cable twists on every ‘quail’ evenly (instead of alternating the twist every 6 rows on adjacent quails) and 2) make the yoke slightly bigger. While the fit of the rest of the cardigan is great, I think an extra inch at the yoke would have meant the stitches stretched less, and looked less messy.
The mirasol baby llama yarn is a great colour, was lovely to knit with, and I really like the drapey look of it. It also feels very soft and luxurious. Mmmm.
Pattern: QUAILS (by me)
Needles: 1 100cm 5mm addi circ.
Yarn: Mirasol ‘miski’ baby llama. “Copper”, 8.5 skeins, 450 g (I only had 9 skeins so was very lucky)
Ravelled here
Love the sweater!! And the color is scrumptious! Do you have a pattern that you followed? If so, can you post it here? I have searched the entire internet looking for this pattern and it is nowhere to be found!! I am at my wits’ end now! ARGGHHH!!! Anyway, I totally agree with everyone else here. This is absolutely gorgeous! Great job.
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This is amazing!!! Your photos are so gorgeous too. Love the sweater so much.
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Oh look how pretty you look in your pretty sweater. Beautify color and it looks so soft and fits you to a tea! Stunning.
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I really love this sweater! The color of the yarn is so gorgeous, and not a color that is easy to find. It has a vintage, hand-knit look that seems to fit with a lot of the clothes you sew and knit. It’s just gorgeous!
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Absolutely scrumptious! Lush colour, beautiful design, s-t-e-e-k-i-ng! QUAILS, this has made my day. (I also have now been walking round the office muttering quails to myself which has got a few strange looks!) You are very inspiring – I still harbour desires for a cardigan like your monkey shrug… Also mirasol is so beautiful.
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Oooh! Another delicious knit. Quails in kumquat marmalade? Wherre do you buy your fab buttons?
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Thank you for sharing your sweater as well as the process it took to get there. Not that I wish anyone difficulty with a project, but it’s interesting to read how it came about. I will certainly think about this sweater the next time I am ripping something back for a second, a third try.
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gorgeous! the cardi and the photos….
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Despite all the headaches, it turned out beautifully!!!
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What a beautiful cardi, such a great colour with the grey!
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It may have begun in bad planning but it ended in triumph. Beautiful.
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Magnificent! The colour… and the yoke!
I second the suggestion of a pattern for sale on Ravelry. I would snap one up.
With thanks,
m
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Yowza, this is gorgeous! I applaud your tenacity at sticking with the sweater as you rip out yoke after yoke. Any chance given the tremendous ravelry love that your cardi is receiving that you would do a pattern for sale on Ravelry? I personally know it would go to the top of many of my friends queues.
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Oh how funny. I might add QUAILS to my (short) list of curses. The kids wouldn’t even know I was being naughty!!
And after all the ripping, you have a lovely sweater there.
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I am in awe of your knitting-fu. I can just about follow a pre-written pattern! The cardigan is gorgeous – I love the colour. I like the alternating crossovers on the rows of cables.
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Oh the color, esp. when paired with the gray dress, is just lovely. It looks fantastic on you!
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bloody gorgeous. the photos are also stunning.
also – i just wanted to say that i’ve just caught up with your blog and read about tom’s accident. futile thing as it is to say, i’m so incredibly sorry that this thing has happened to him and also you. however i admire you both for the strength that you appear to be showing towards it. the first time i heard about knife-forks was when i was little and reading roald dahl’s book “boy” when he talks about his norweigian father (or was it an uncle?) losing a hand and constructing something of the sort by sharpening the edge of a fork. not sure if you want to take such a rustic route. i hope – indeed i’m sure – that things will get better for tom (for the two of you).
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What a lovely cardigan! Any chance you’ll write up the pattern? I especially like the neckline and the shaping.
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It’s absolutely wonderful! Hopefully all of the wear you get out of it will make the brain power totally worth it. Enjoy!!
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awesome job!! I love it!
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Oh wow, it’s lovely! What a wonderful colour, too – and it’s perfect for autumn (I actually nearly wrote fall – I think I’ve been reading too many American knitting blogs….).
I’m always impressed by the way you just go for things. It’s much better to do what you do than to succumb to my endless hours of deliberation and hesitation and self-doubt. I need to knit more boldly (and more quickly too – you’re so speedy!). You’ve inspired me, again, so thank you.
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Not being a knitter (not nearly enough gray matter available) I cannot appreciate the trouble you went through make this sweater but it looks lovely and the last photo is so charming.
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