FO: Windsor Cardi

I started this sweater before Baby O was born, and I started the sleeves after we brought him home.  I worked on it so long that I forgot why I started knitting it in the first place.  Once I got the buttons on, though, I started to feel pretty good about it!  It's a great sweater for this cool, wet Spring so many of us seem to be having. 

The yarn is Rowan Amy Butler Belle Organic DK.  It has unfortunately been discontinued, which fortunately meant I could get it at a great price.  It's a blend of 50% wool and 50% cotton, a blend I'd been wanting to try for quite a while.  I knit with cotton pretty sparingly because it just doesn't have any stretch or memory to it.  It makes for hard knitting on the hands, and cotton knit garments are notorious for losing their shape.  Wool has amazing bounce and memory, and it's a dream to knit, but wool is just too warm for summer knits.  A cotton/wool blend yarn takes advantage of each's best qualities.  Also, the wool and the cotton take the dye a little differently, so there's a little shimmer to it.  I really enjoyed knitting with it, and I have some more for another summer cardi. 

The lace pattern on this Windsor Cardi is very stretchy, and lots of Ravelers commented on sleeves being too long.  I added extra length to the sleeves and the body anyway, and I'm glad.  As I get back to my per-pregnancy weight, it should get a little longer! 

I'm not very impressed with my job on the buttons.  While they're all exactly 13 rows apart, they don't look like they're spaced out equally, do they?  I need to study up on button bands.  But perfect is the enemy of done, so I'm living with it.  (We took these pictures while the last two buttons were still on back order.)

Ravelry project page here

Hooray for finished sweaters!