Riding that Blackwood Bandwagon

This pattern is one that mystifies me as to why I hadn't made it earlier..... I cannot count the times I have needed a good cardigan and gone searching high and low around the shops for something suitable. (To no avail either!) I think it was my last foray into knitwear that may have put me off.

It's not like it hasn't been across the whole sewing world or anything is it... Man is this a popular pattern and now I see why!

Another minor mystery is why I cut it out in February, and then only just got round to finding it in my UFO pile and finishing it off. All told it took less than an hour to cut out, then less than an hour to sew up. In just happens that those two hours were about 3 months apart.

So here it is, and just in time for the spring weather - my Blackwood Cardigan by Helen's Closet!

I used some coral cable knit fabric from Higgs & Higgs  which turned out to be PERFECT for this pattern. The right amount of weight-cosy-colour ratio together with being incredibly workable and sewing machine friendly. I hadn't considered myself to be a 'pink' kind of gal but I really love this. So cheerful to wear. It's already been a staple go-to piece for the last few weeks so it must be a winner.

The pattern size for this one was a Large graded out to Extra-Large at the hips. I'll be honest I did fall prey to vanity and exclaimed at the 'extra-large' label however it fit like an absolute dream.

The only change I made was to give the sleeve a wider width at the bicep than the XL called for, which then meant pinning and tapering it back down from the elbow to the wrist. Not a big deal though as it was so easy to alter with the ol' pin and fit method.

I went for the full length version, with cuffs that come mid-hand for keeping warm. You could easily omit the cuffs, as a friend of mine has done, which made for an equally very smart and chic look.

Pretty much the entire thing was done on the over-locker save for attaching pockets and top stitching the edges. It's been an absolute revelation to me  that you can use regular thread in an over-locker to do decorative stitching. So coral and yellow insides it is!

The pattern is so versatile - colours, fabric types, weights. I'm particularly looking forward to trying the maxi-hack with split hems. Definitely a repeat make pattern!

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