Presenting Mrs. Darcy

I have finished the Mrs. Darcy Cardigan right down to the buttons. (excuse the badly lit photos)

She is made from Jo Sharp Alpaca Kid Lustre in champagne doubled. I got the beautiful shell button at Noe Knit.
Time to knit: 1 week (not including the blocking time & my delaying the finishing)
I tweaked this pattern quite a bit. It was written for a size 34 and I added two inches to make it a 36. Also the pattern had the ribbed trim starting and ending on different rows on the back & front of the sweater which seemed off to me so I just made sure they were on the same rows. I also completely changed how she did the armhole shaping & the top of the sleeves since I couldn't quite figure her's out. I used Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Guide to Sweater Patterns for help here & they came out beautifully. Despite these problem the pattern was pretty good for the first one she's ever written & a quick knit at 4 stitches per inch.

Right now I think it looks best on me unbuttoned (which is how I usually where cardigans)but I after one more good blocking it should look fine buttoned too. That said I'm not so sure I'd recommend this pattern for any really busty girls out there because of the way the low vee neck hits.

I've had to rip back about 4 inches of the Honeymoon Sweater. The Alpacino yarn has really big variations in color & you could see the difference quite clearly when I started a new ball (they are the same dyelot. Susi at Noe Knit suggested I give the yarn a gentle soak & see if some dye comes out of the darker balls. I don't mind the variation within the balls as its a gentle change but I don't like the abrupt line when changing balls. I went through all 8 balls I have & you can really see the difference from ball to ball in the color & am now using one that is a little lighter. I've never had this happen with the same dyelot before.

When I picked up my buttons for Mrs. Darcy I also picked up 15 balls of Schulana Super Cotton in Dark Gray to make Matt his zippered cardigan. He tends to run hot so cotton is perfect for him. I like the fact that this yarn has elastic in it so it will retain its shape better than cotton has a tendency to do. I'd love to cast on for it but my rule is I has to have the Honeymoon Sweater all knit up & ready to finish before I can cast on for his.