Tobaggan Sideways Cardi - ReKint project

ripping out the old sweater.
therapeutic, despite the gazillion
little balls of yarn I ended up with

A lot of people who know me know that I have a tendency to rip knitting projects out - both partially finished and fully finished - when I realize I don't like how something is turning (or has turned) out.

Yes, a ton of man-hours go into knitting something, especially a sweater, but in reality, I'd rather spend twice that time and really like something, then finish a project and feel "meh" about it. Sometimes I'll pass a sweater on to someone else, but often they sit rarely worn, or even unworn, for a year or two (or seven) before I decided I've had enough and am motivated to rip the sweater out and knit the yarn into a new sweater or other creation.

My latest deconstruction-reconstruction: the Lopi Hoodi.

goodbye, old friend

I really wanted to love this sweater. At least, I loved the pattern and the idea of the sweater! It was a bulky cardigan that could double as a jacket. I loved the detail around the yoke, the raglan sleeves, and the wide ribbed cuffs and waist:

yoke detail and raglan sleeve

I knit it back when I was living in CO a few years out of college (I have a hard-copy photo somewhere!), and wore it around the house a bit. But it always felt a bit too big, and I never quite settled on a closure for it. I had a zipper in it for a while, but it made the front pucker a bit. I thought about toggles, and even crafted some clay buttons during a clay class my art-teacher friend threw together one winter on the island. But they weren't quite the right brown to match the brown of the pattern, and I never attached them. I think they're at the bottom of one of my various knitting bags. I even added a hood at one point, thinking I'd wear the sweater more often. Still, it sat at the bottom of the pile, coming out only once a winter, if that. 

thick, long cuffs with some sleeve detail

I unpacked the sweater back in November when I was switching over to my winter wardrobe (which is mostly the same as my spring and fall, just with a sweater layer added most days). Out came the sweater and I knew it was time to give the yarn a new life. So, a few weeks ago I spent a bit too much time scouring knitty and ravelry and a few other sites in an effort to find a new sweater to knit out of the yarn, which is Brown Sheep Bulky. I eventually stumbled upon the Toboggan Sideways Cardigan, from Classic Elite Yarns. It is a short-sleeve cardigan in bulky yarn, and is constructed sideways from the front right around to the front back. The yoke is a cable detail, and short rows help create shaping. 

hello, new friend

I knit the ribbing on the front and around the neck in the brown accent, and added ribbing around the bottom edge. The buttons are pewter that I picked up a few summers ago at a fabric shop near Ellsworth, ME (that are pretty much identical to buttons on another cardi I knit a few years ago!). 

pewter button & cabled-yoke detail

more cabled-yoke detail

cables around the back

sideways knit!
ribbing detail in brown; the bottom ribbing was my addition.

For me, it was a fairly quick project - bulky yarn is nice that way. I really like how this turned out, and I forsee it getting it a lot more wear-time than the last incarnation of the yarn. 

see - already happy about the new sweater :)

Merry Christmas!