February 03, 2004

Elfin is finished! The outcome: I forgive Kim Hargreaves for those 10,000 stitches of Kidsilk Haze. The ruffles on the front edges are a great big valium to cast on, but they result in enough frills to make a Las Vegas performer jealous. With a skirt or slacks this cardigan is a cute party jacket, but the flecks of blue in the tweed make it easy to wear with jeans, too. I am really not much of a frill person, but this cardi changed my mind about that. I like it!

Some tips:

1) Casting on all those stitches for the front band frills is an event in itself, but so is sewing them onto the front edges. It's imperative that they match up correctly without puckering, so I sewed on both front bands simultaneously, taking in 2 horizontal bars alternating every 2 or 3 stitches up to the shoulders. (If you're knitting Elfin, you'll know what I mean when you get to this part.) When I finally finished sewing on the frills, I was so happy I pulled the half-sewn cardi on and said, "Woot!" And here's the photo to prove it. [A big thank you to my ever-observant pal Alison for sending me the shirt! (My e-mails tend to be peppered with exclamations of "Woot!", particularly when writing about yarn.)]

2) I used black hooks and eyes instead of metal ones, and they are invisible when the cardi is worn. I didn't fasten them directly at the edge, but two rows inside to ensure better closure.

3) Elfin is a VERY warm cardi. If you plan on wearing it on its own indoors (which you can, as the darts make it an excellent fit), don't do it where the heating is on full blast, or you'll sweat yourself into a puddle on the ground.

And here are some more photos for you: The official standing still like a mannequin with hands on hips shot, and the customary skinnyrabbit.com dancing shots* taken with my spycam:




A big thank you to Sarah W., for enabling me with this yarn and for choosing the perfect colorway for me. As promised, here are your dancing in the forest shots! Edited to include an enormous thank you to Ms. Curls and Purls, for organizing such a fun Elfin knitalong. It was a blast!

*Say hello to Lucy, my bichon frise and loyal canine friend of 9 years. When my husband started taking the dancing shots, she ran over and stole the show.

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