Gauge, My Nemesis

The Hygge Baby Cardigan is finished.  Ends are woven in, buttons are sewn on, photographs have been taken.  Done.  That’s 294 yds of Stash Dash completed for those of you who are keeping track.

Just one problem.  I’m pretty sure this 6 month size baby cardigan can fit a 5 year old.  Some of you long time readers might ask, “Jess, did you do a gauge swatch?”

Nope.

Rooky Mistake!

The knitting was going so well.  The sweater was so pretty as I was knitting it!  Everything went so effortlessly.  Right up until I blocked it and it grew (no kidding) 300%.  OK, OK, maybe I thought it was more of a 12 month size right up until I blocked it.  I mean, it did seem a tad bit big.

After blocking, I even tried it on Lily to see just how big it was.

Now Lily is a size 7 – mostly because she has long and legs – but can also fit into size 6 tops.  While trying this sweater on, she put in an order for a white version for herself!  Lily feels it has a certain Star Wars-esquee quality to it with the buttons along the side.  But back to the green sweater.

Somewhat nervously, I put the sweater in the dryer to see if that would help the problem.  Malabrigo Rios is machine washable, so I wasn’t sure how well this would work.  Turns out, it worked like a charm!  The hand of the fabric is squishy and soft.  The sweater came out definitely smaller than it had been.  I think it’s still probably a 12 month size, but that is certainly better than a size 5.  A word to wise, despite the superwash label, don’t put Malabrigo Rios in the dryer unless you want it to shrink.

What I’m Knitting:

I pulled out my Solaris cardigan out of hibernation and started working on that.   It’s got a very interesting construction.  You make the arms, a small short back, and a very long piece that acts as the fronts and goes around the back of the neck.  All I have left to do is 1/3 of the long piece and one sleeve.

I’m also still plugging away at the sleeve of the Hitch.

Stash Dash Update:

For those of you who are keeping a scorecard at home

Hygge Baby sweater – 294 yds.  – DONE

Solaris Cardigan – 1400-1500 yds.

Hitch Cardigan – 1120 yds.

I hope everyone is plugging away at their own projects.  It’s not too late to join Stash Dash.  You don’t need to have a bunch of projects on the needles to play along.  You can just knit new projects from stash yarn.