Camber Cardigan

One of my favorite projects of 2010-2011 has to be the Camber Cardigan by Jessamyn Leib of jeshknits

I’m a huge fan of top-down sweaters because when you’re done knitting, all you have to do is a tiny bit of grafting, weave in some ends, and you’ve got a finished sweater! The pattern was very easy to follow, too. The lace pattern and shaping at the yoke require some attention, but once you hit the stockinette part of the body, it’s smooth sailing. The spaces that Jesh provided to write in key numbers were really helpful in terms of keeping track of what size you’re knitting (the pattern comes in a range of sizes from 32″ to 52″, so filling in the blanks makes the numbers less overwhelming). I made two minor modifications to the pattern. The first was to lengthen the sleeves to 3/4-length, which hit me in a more flattering location than half-length sleeves do. I also only sewed on one button, because I was very eager to wear the sweater, and then I decided that I liked the look of it as a flutter cardigan.

It took just under 1100 yards of Valley Yarns Colrain Lace from Webs to knit the sweater in my size, and a cone of the yarn will be enough to knit all of the sizes. The merino in the yarn can have a tendency to pill, but I find that the sweater has held up well over the last year.

This sweater has become one of the go-to pieces in my handknit wardrobe. Its light weight makes it perfect for three-season wear (or even four-season wear, when the air conditioning gets turned way up in the summer), and the lace pattern and waist shaping make it very easy to dress up or down.

The Camber Cardigan pattern is available on Ravelry.