Heirloom quilt cardigan

mark II

Back in July, I shared my completed Heirloom Quilt cardigan. This is a pattern from Katryn Seeburger, to create a boxy, oversized cardigan in a folk-inspired design. I loved the concept, especially the idea that I could use scraps and remnants to create a beautiful, timeless piece of clothing. The title of the pattern is appropriate, in my opinion, you create a piece that I could imagine handing down the generations.

I love my version, I used tapestry yarn gifted to me by a friend of the family clearing a house. I pulled out all the autumnal colours, and combined it with green yarn from my stash to create a unique cardigan in my preferred colour palate. I used my TNT Drops Kidsilk mohair from Knitted Home, to bring the piece together and make it feel cohesive. In retrospect, I think I would get more use out of it in sweater form, so I might need to hack the pattern to make myself a second in time!

Immediately after finishing this version, I realised all the pastel colours left in the tapestry yarn box would be perfect for my Mum. Last Christmas I made her an Aimee Sher Building Blocks cardigan in thrifted pink Nutiden yarn I found in a charity shop (absolute score; £25 for 3 and a half plates of yarn that would have cost over £75 new). I had enough Nutiden left to do (I hope) the sleeves, neckband and bottom ribbing of an Heirloom Quilt Cardigan, leaving the tapestry yarn to make the 8 point star squares.

For Mum’s size, I needed 27 squares, and I’m interested to try it on when it’s finished and compare it to the size I made for myself. I was expecting the final fit to be quite boxy, but my version ended up being more fitted than I anticipated. I made myself size 1, so chose size 2 for Mum. There are only 3 sizes, so I’m hoping size 2 isn’t hugely bigger, my Mum is only a couple of dress sizes larger than me.

I’ve been slowly working my way through the 27 required squares over the past few months, whilst watching YouTube with the doggies in the evening. The design is easy to memorise and takes around 1.5-2hrs per square (depending on how distracted by the internet I am during knitting. Sometimes it’s EXTREMELY pressing to google whether a celebrity is still alive or not). It’s a good pattern to knit in front of the TV, being interesting enough to keep your attention, but repetitive enough to be done with minimal concentration.

I’m finally at the point of seaming together my blocks, then it’ll be a case of picking up stitches and knitting the sleeves, button bands and bottom hem. Fingers crossed I have enough Nutiden to see me through! I’ll be reporting back in the next few months, once it’s done.