FO - Jessica Cardigan

I recently finished knitting my first baby project. My second cousin (the closest relation my age to have a baby) recently gave birth to a little girl, and so I decided to make a little something for her newborn girl. I chose a free pattern, the Jessica Cardigan by Rowan, and used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino 4-ply yarn in the colour Mallard. I'd originally bought the yarn to make into a vintage 1940s-style top, but I've decided to shelve that project idea for the time being - the Baby Cashmerino was the only baby yarn I had in the house. The project took a little over 2 weeks and was, overall, a moderate success. 

The cardigan is a beautiful design but the pattern itself was rather difficult to follow. There was a chart of pattern repeats for the bottom half of the back cardigan panel, but there were no charts included for the upper back, the front or the sleeves. Unfortunately, the vague continue in pattern instruction wasn't particularly straightforward, due to several decreases on the edges of the following rows. I had to rechart the entire pattern in Chart-minder - this ended up taking more time than the actual knitting. Less able knitters would definitely struggle with such a pattern, as instructions such as knit right front panel as given for left panel fail to mention that the button band and decreases should be knitted on the opposite side, and that a K2tog decrease should be replaced by an SSK. 

Luckily the cardigan survived its journey to the North of England and was safely delivered to my second cousin (who, appropriately, is also named Jessica). She loved the cardigan and it fits the baby well - she's tiny so she'll have plenty of time to properly grow into it. 

I would probably recommend this pattern to a knitter looking for a challenge, but I am not sure I would knit this again. Recharting the whole pattern was too time consuming - I even invested in a Chart-minder membership just to help me. I'll be making more baby gifts for my next-door neighbour who's expecting a baby girl, but this time it'll be knitting something far less complicated. 

For anyone that is interested in knitting this pattern in size 0-3 months, I would be happy to share the charts I made. You can contact me using the details on my contact page.