While updating my website, I realized that the five designs I mentioned in my last post were not the only ones that I have not yet blogged about. Add to those the Plumage Wrap and Zephirine Cardigan (both from Interweave Knits Spring 2014), AND several of my self-published designs: the Amphorae Shawl, the Nerodia Cardigan for Women, and the Fiamma hot water bottle cover.
Since there are so many, I'm not going to go chronologically, but instead pick the one that I feel most like blogging about at this moment, and that is... the Nerodia Cardigan for Women.
Like the Nerodia Cardi for Babies and Children, I created this design in honor of the Chinese Year of the Snake (2013), and the repeat for the snake bodies is the same. I also used garter stitch edgings (pun intended) and snap closures for both. But after that, these designs diverge: on the version for women, the snakes adorn the yoke, not the lower body. In addition, two of the three snake heads overlap the other front and actually form part of the front closure, so I reworked those heads to be 3D (a fun part of the design process!). I also moved the tails, to make room for these heads to fit between them when the cardigan fronts are fastened.
The snake band is worked sideways for both cardis, with the two 3D snake heads added after the rest of the band stitches have been bound off. Stitches for the body are then picked up from the long edge of the band, but unlike the Baby/Child version, the body and sleeves are worked down (body flat, and sleeves in the round). Decreases shape the curved front hems. For the upper yoke, stitches are picked up from the other long edge of the snake band, and rapid decreases follow the contours of the shoulders, ending in a garter stitch neckband. The front and hem edging is added in finishing, and snap closures are sewn on (you can see them in the above photo). And don't forget the snake eyes and tongues!
I really love the Madelinetosh Tosh DK yarn I used for this project; it's a pleasure to knit with and holds up well, and the Filigree colorway, a lightly variegated mix of greens, golds and a bit of blue, is a wonderful match for the design. In fact, after this colorway was chosen for the Arc & Line Cowl in knit.wear Fall 2012, I liked it so much that I used it again (held doubled) for the Rockweed Cowl.