They lie, but they beat a dictatorship

There has been enough political commentary on television lately that I can say with absolute conviction that the United States Governing System (it's called a democracy folks) is filled with people who will say darn near anything to either get elected, stay in power or obtain funding.

Now that said, in my opinion, a democracy sure as dishwater beats out all the other forms of government I have seen. It's not perfect, but it is the best there is.

Swatches are like that. They lie, they lie badly some times, but they sure as dishwater beat not swatching, especially when you are trying to design your own cardigan.
Ignore the wonky cables, they were a failed attempt at coming up with a design. Looked great on paper, not so much with yarn and needles involved, however that picture is just one picture of many, many swatches I have made for this project, and swatching is the second step.

What do I mean the second step? Well the first step was to figure out something about what I wanted to knit!

In coming up with that I thought long and hard about how I wear my "everyday" cardigan, the one I throw on when I get home from work and take my suit jacket off, the one I have worn out the cuff ribbing and severely stretched button holes on. It is a very comfortable sweater, but it has stretched in some unusual ways and mostly I caused that stretching by how I was wearing it!

Rule Number 1 for my cardigan is : Do not put buttons on that you are NEVER going to do up! Only put buttons and button holes where you will use them, which for me on my old comfy sweater means just a few, right in the middle. Forget about buttons all the way down and all the way up.

Rule Number 2 : Lace is great for bodies and bodices but not so much on cuffs and sleeves. :)

Rule Number 3 : Cuffs should be firm enough and tight enough to stay where they belong.

What does your perfect cardigan look like in your head?

~M