Carmela Biscuit's Spot

Four years ago I knitted the Fitted Cropped Cardi from Vogue Spring 2014 in Performance Cotton Gem. I loved the process and I liked the way it turned out, but I never wore it, not once in the course of a year or so. As Cotton Gem is fairly expensive and with low yardage, this tiny thing had eaten through quite a lot of yarn, which was unused, so I frogged it and reknit the beige yarn in my Ho-okipa Cardigan.


When I considered knitting the Vogue cardi for the second time, using only black Cotton Gem, I had presumed that the problem with my first attempt was the contrast color combo, which was hard to match with anything other than solid black or solid white. And I had forgotten the issue with the transparency of the big holes, which made the cardi look more like a fishing net than a piece of clothing.

The problem didn't seem obvious to me, when matching the work in progress with various items it could be worn with,but it became glaring after I blocked the back and two fronts and pinned them to try the body on. As I had still to knit the two sleeves and the bands, I decided that I'd rather frog it and start anew than knit the remaining 2/3 and then frog it in a year. Now I'm testing stitch patterns for the new design. Am I a too fussy knitter, I wonder?!

I finished my Vogue cardi a week ago and finally got to blogging about it. I've styled it with black and beige as in the magazine, but it goes well with my short summer dresses too. I made a few minor modifications, some of which turned for the better - the sleeve cap, and some for the worse - the lengthening changed the silhouette and was probably a mistake.


Pattern: Fitted Cropped Cardi by Theresa Schabes, Vogue Knitting, Spring/Summer 2014
Yarn:  Performance Cotton Gem, 300 g light beige and 50 g black
Needle: 3 mm rib, 3.5 mm body
Time to knit: 12 days





I kept extensive notes on my process in my Ravelry page, so I feel have little to add here :)
I'm ashamed to confess that I didn't bother to block the black button band - and I should (blushing). It pulls the sides, especially the left one, when the cardi is worn unbuttoned. I'll have to fix that soon. All in all a wearable little cardi, but not very versatile and I doubt it will become a staple in my summer wardrobe.

or on spontaneous knitting.


Actually most of my knitting is spontaneous (what an interesting pattern, I'm going to knit it, but in a different color and yarn) versus planned (say, it's winter, it's cold, I need a cardigan, I'll knit myself a cardigan). However some of my knitting is more spontaneous that other. Some projects make it to my Ravelry queue and stay there and mature and when (if) I pick them up, I've had time to think my initial  urge over, to plan the color and the style to go with my existing wardrobe. But there are others, that jump right from the magazine to the needles with a short detour to the yarn shop, without any clear idea how the thing will fit with my other clothing items and if I need it at all.

Such is the case with this little cardigan from the latest Vogue. I started the second sleeve last night and I'm still not sure if I like it or need it, but I'm having fun, and in the end - that's what matters :))


And a bunch of muffins I made last night. I'm still in search for the perfect muffin recipe. This one is close:

• 1 3/4 cups of flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 eggs
• 80 g of butter
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 2 vanillas
• 3 tbsp of cocoa powder