My April project (not anywhere near done! This month went by so fast) was the “long-line Shetland cardigan” from the April 1968 issue of Stitchcraft, “Country Knits”. Longer, slightly narrower garments and cabled, twisted or nubbly stitch patterns were all trending.
The cardigan in question is written for Patons “Fiona”, a DK/worsted blend of Shetland wool and synthetic fibre. I used “Loch Lomond” by BC Garn, which is a tweedy, loosely plied DK/worsted wool, softer than Shetland wool and a little bit less hairy, but similarly fluffy. I had bought it to make a cardigan from a modern pattern and had made most of the cardigan before realising that I didn’t like either the fit or the lace pattern on the fronts. It sat around for a while while I worked on other projects, until I decided to cannibalise it in order to make this Stitchcraft cardigan.
The pattern is written from the bottom up, in pieces and seamed, with raglan sleeves. The cables are a 5/5/5 stitch braid with the crosses on rows 5 and 11 of the 12-stitch pattern repeat, and only featured on the fronts — the back is knit plain. I chose to make it with the front and back knit flat in one piece and a seamless raglan yoke, and will probably add wast shaping and/or cables on the center back (without adjusting the total stitch count) to keep it from looking too sack-like or ballooning in the back.
I started with the sleeves to check for fit and tension, and as of April 27th have completed 1 1/2 sleeves up to the armholes — not very much! I’m sorry, it’s been a really busy month. The fabric is a little stiff on 3.5 needles, so I may switch to 4 mm for the body (and adjust for gauge?). The cables have great definition, though. The pattern is easy, the colour is fantastic, and the yarn is pleasantly squishy and tweedy. I just need to find the time to get it done.
I will update this post when I have completed more!
The Stitchcraft Sixties 