Tag: buttoned cardigan

The Buttoned Cardigan seems to be moving along nicely. Some focus is needed for the button bands and the pattern along the upper portion of the bodice, but it is easily done. I had to improvise a bit along the way, just to get a sense of how the pattern could work with the modifications I made.

Personally, I think the left front neckband’s decreases are tidier than the right (when you look at the photo, your right is the sweater’s left).

I also think that this yarn was possibly not the best for this pattern, in part because it is so busy, but also because of the looseness of the twist in the yarn itself. Still, the sweater is not obnoxious, and the details of the sweater up close, with this yarn, are nice. A solid color would be better. I do like the green buttons.

I have a few more rows to do on the left front before I begin the sleeves. I am thinking of making the sleeves 3/4 length, just because I prefer shorter ones. I always roll up or push my wrist-length sleeves. I have 8 buttons, and maybe I’ll put one on each sleeve as a decoration of sorts . . .

The fires east of Los Angeles now cover over 220 square miles, or 140,000 or more acres.  80 miles away, to the west, the air is thick, the sky has a pale color to it, and when the sun manages to hit a surface, it is a sickly, reddish color.  My eyes are burning, my throat hurts, and I am sneezing.  That’s about as far as I will go – let’s just say, if is an altogether unpleasant experience here, I can only imagine how awful it is for people in the middle of it, the fire fighters, and everyone else.

There are a lot of rather snotty comments about California, fires, and so on.  The fact is, every year the fires seem to be worse than those of the previous year, larger, harder to contain.  Some of this is because of the ongoing drought, some is because of global warming, some of it because of the pine beetle, and some of it is because containment of fires has been the general practice, if not total abatement.  Given the population density of the Los Angeles area, this makes sense – but when payback comes, it is nasty.

However, it is not just people who pay the price – wildlife also pays a price for this.  How many wild animals have been burned to death, how many are without water or food?  The cost is far greater people’s homes, it is the entire eco-system which pays the price, from humans to caterpillar, deer and songbird.  The depredation of the environment is global, but so many people do not want to admit to it.  And I am beginning to believe that less and less will be done, can be done, as populations increase, and living space and arable soil and clean water become less and less available.

But enough of this.  Since it is hard to do much in this heat and fouled air, I thought I would take some pictures of the Buttoned Cardigan I have been working on.  I’ve done the lower body, to the arm hole area, and completed the back.  I am now ready to continue with the fronts.  It is knitting up rather quickly, which is something I am rather enjoying right now. This picture shows you the sweater laid out with the sections done to date.

Here is a closer view of the buttons I bought for the sweater, and I think you can see how nicely the green buttons work with the greenish elements in the sweater itself.

And finally, the edging detail, which, admittedly, gets lost in the yarn. Still, I think it has a nice, finished quality to it.