A Darling Emma Knit Cardigan

Chicago is quite grey today, as it is most winter days.  It makes me long for warmer, brighter days as I look back at these images taken on a crisp September day spent in Washington D.C.

Darling Emma is a fingering-weight knit cardigan pattern by Joji Locatelli.  Yes – this whole thing was knit in a light weight yarn!  But would you be surprised to hear that it actually knit up fast for me??

The speed is due to the lace panels on the front – easy to memorize and work up quite quickly.

I knit this up in second size (34/36 inch bust) and decreased to the smallest size for the armscye height, as I do on nearly everything.  Yet the fit is still a bit – shall I say – relaxed.  I don’t exactly love a dropped shoulder on my figure and as you can see in the image above – mega dropped shoulder with this on me.

But… I love this cardigan.  This is perhaps one of my most worn garments so far this winter.  Why?  Its ooh sooo warm.

The yarn I used was languishing in my stash as it was a mis-purchase.  I bought it years ago at Stitches Midwest event from the vendor Sunday Knits as a joint pattern & yarn purchase.  But they gave me the wrong yarn and I hadn’t realized until over a year later – by then it felt like it was too late to complain.

This yarn is heaven.  It’s an angora (25%) – wool blend (75%) and despite being a fingering weight knit, the angora content makes it a perfectly warm and cozy cardigan, perfect for combating Chicago winters.  If I wasn’t committed to working from my stash, I’d be purchasing more of this yarn in a heartbeat.

The cardigan & yarn produce a lovely halo that only angora can do.  I love how crisp and in focus the trees and my hair are, yet it looks my my cardigan has been airbrushed.

I’ve come to love patterns designed by Joji Locatelli as her construction methods are both interesting and fun to knit.

The body of the cardigan is working in one piece to the armholes.  Then the back and fronts are worked separately.  The bodice back is then picked up as the collar is worked – seamlessly.  Armholes are worked with short rows & knit in the round.

These photos were taken at Theodore Roosevelt Park in D.C. on a much-needed nature walk.

Unfortunately mosquitoes drove us out sooner than we wished, as I was with my friend and her newborn.  We braved it for a while but decided to walk around Georgetown instead.

As a result of this cardigan not fitting exactly the way I hoped, I primarily wear it around the house in the evenings.  While it is a shame it doesn’t get out often, I’m happy to have a feminine cardigan for my creative & relaxing evenings at home.

Happy knitting!

In: Knitting

Blogger for 6 years and counting, I am a passionate creator who loves to tinker.

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