Finished: Carlito ~ Released: Cure

I have been working hard to complete lots of projects that have been lingering on my knitting needles.  Fellow knitters, you know what it's like to have a bunch of projects incomplete and in various stages of frustratingness.  Since my move to San Francisco, I have become quite focused on completing the projects I started, and being well-planned when it comes to starting new ones.  That being said, I am happy to share with you, Carlito; a recently-completed cabled cardigan, and Cure; the hat pattern I designed for HIV/AIDS awareness!

Carlito Cardigan by Matthew Gnagy
Yarn: Berroco Peruvia
Began: May, 2010
Completed: December, 2010
Visit this finished object on Ravelry: http://ravel.me/kylewilliam/cc

I bought the yarn for this project at WEBS during our real life visit May, 2010 , and cast on at the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat 2010 in Easton, NY. The project is rewarding, interesting and beautiful... My only notes are:

1. Be sure to center the pattern when picking up the stitches on the back panel - it’s important to divide the cable panel in half then half again (use safety pins or something to divide) and evenly distribute the stitches - otherwise you’ll end up with an uneven back and it’ll look icky… like mine did… and I had to rip it out and re-do it!

2. The length to the waist is shorter than I thought it would be.  Because of all the ribbing and traveling angled details, it could stand to be a touch longer.  If I were to re-knit this again I'd probably either knit it a little longer or not bind off at the bottom (leave those stitches live until it's assembled to ensure proper length.

Contrary to popular belief, cables are not difficult.  The only issue I find with this style of knitting is that it takes concentration and moves more slowly than other pieces I like to knit.  That being said, the reward of completing something such as the Carlito Cardigan makes the hours of knitting invested quite worthwhile! 

Cure Hat Pattern Released

A portion of the proceeds from sales of this pattern will be donated to help fund HIV/AIDS Research.

$4.00 (.pdf pattern download)

Have life saving information to share with someone the next time they ask about the hat you’re wearing. Using this pattern, it’s easy to create a custom hat supporting HIV/AIDS awareness! Check out the fact sheet at the end of the pattern to learn more about this disease and what you can do to help reduce your risk.

Knit in the round, this hat features two motifs - the virus and the ribbon.  As the artist, you get to select the quantity and order of these motifs!