Blowing Snow Cardigan

Today is my stop on the Midwestern Knits blog tour train. Hooray, Midwestern Knits!

When the call for submissions came out for this book over a year ago, I may have squeeeeed a bit. Even though I haven't lived in the Midwest in years, it's still a big part of who I am! I submitted some ideas, got accepted, went through the total agony of a Kickstarter (checking on the total every 5 minutes like a teenage girl on Snapchat), got some glorious yarn, knitted a cardigan, and here we are: book. Eeeee! Still can't get over the fact that I contributed something meaningful to a real live book. I love books.

I originally designed this to be a pullover, but after some consultation with Allyson, one of the editors, we decided that a cardigan would be better... and I'm so glad we did. As a pullover it might have been a bit weird. As a cardigan, I want to wear it everyday. I think that's why there's been a lot of love for this design- it's super wearable, especially in a neutral color like this. I've heard a lot of knitters say they're thinking of making one in gray- an excellent idea, and one I might have to steal someday when I have some of that elusive non-design knitting time.

This is actually a pretty straightforward knit. Unlike lots and lots of my other designs. The stitch pattern is easy enough for tv knitting, but interesting enough that it's not boring. The sleeves are knitted from stitches picked up around the armholes, so the only seams are the shoulder joins, and that's done with a three-needle bind off so I don't even think it counts. The shawl collar is excellently deep and cozy due to the short-row shaping. Which is not scary at all. 

If you feel like camaraderie makes the best knitting, then think about joining in on the Blowing Snow KAL! It's happening in the Midwestern Knits group on Ravelry here. I really can't wait to see some projects start showing up! Not many things make me happier than when knitters make my designs.

Want to use the same yarn I used in the sample? You can get a kit here in the Happy Go Lucky Yarn Etsy shop, and it's even on sale! I can personally vouch that this yarn is deliciously soft and squooshy.

Want to win a copy of the pattern? (Or, if you already have the book, I'll sub a copy of any of my self-published patterns, which can be seen here.) Just leave a comment for a chance to win! I'll randomly pick a winner on September 7th!

Here's a blog tour schedule so you can check out the rest of the posts. I already posted this once but my blog, my rules, so here it is again. Happy knitting!

Blog Tour Schedule:

Aug 17: Launch: MidwesternKnits.com

Aug 18: Carina Spencer

Aug 19: YarnTalk Show

Aug 20: Knits in Class

Aug 21: @FrenchPressKnits on Instagram

Aug 24: Handmade By Stefanie

Aug 25: Laura Ricketts

Aug 26: DoogKnits

Aug 27: Front Porch Knitting

Aug 28: @ChooseBatman on Instagram

Aug 31: Knitspot

Sept 1: Cosmos and Cashmere- that's me!

Sept 2: Nerd Girl Yarns

Sept 3: Lorna’s Laces

Sept 8: The Sweatshop of Love

Sept 9: @juriface on Instagram

Sept 10: Brown Sheep Blog

Sept 14: Weaver Knits

Sept 15: Mrs Crosby Plays

Sept 16: Subway Knits