Maaaaarvelous Martha!

It must have been love.  I don't know what else could have driven a churn 'em out quickie kind of knitter like me to pick up 3mm needles and slog through the zillion stitches that is Martha.  Love, and maybe the beads. Subtle and demure in natural light, they go glamour puss sparkly in artificial light.  Can you tell I'm really happy with this beauty? Here she is under different lighting.

Oh, but isn't it easy to forget the labour pains when you've just given birth to a precious baby.  After she was sewn up, I had well nearly forgotten about having to string the beads, then pushing them along the yarn after every row, and the teeny tiny stitches. There's the seaming also. Usually I like to increase or decrease a couple of stitches from the edge but because of the patterning, it was all done at the edge and the seams were a bit harder to match up at the curvy places. That's it really, as I like everything else, the color, the soft yarn, which took the stress of beading well, and last but not least, the fit!  I'm not sure I would give it an 'easy' rating, as Rowan had done. The construction and shaping are easy enough but it does take a hellishly long some time to knit up.

Together at last!

Pattern source: Rowan 37, size 34

Materials: Just over 6 balls of Rowan 4-ply cotton in Allure. I ended up using less than 1400 small clear beads (pattern calls for 1530) because I didn't place beads that are too close to the seams. The buttons are the icing on the cake; they're silvery or pink depending on the light and angle from which you see them. Wonderful!

Modifications: Shortened the sleeves by an inch. I started the neckline a few rows up from what the pattern states and made it round instead of square. Here, I did the decreases one stitch from the edge because I'd have a really hard time picking up the stitches otherwise.

This is the last sweater for me for a while as I'd like to knit some things for the boys. It feels great to have beaten the 4-ply boogieman so I fear him no longer! Would it surprise you to see that these are some other sweaters I'd like to knit for myself?  Yeah, stuck in a 4-ply and beads groove but for now, I could do with some speedier knitting using thicker yarn and stocking stitch to catch my breath.

Comments

[Agnes]

Wonderful wonderful! You've done a marvelous job! The sweater fits you soooo well! Did you buy the yarn+beads+buttons as a kit? Again, great job!

[LouVFS]

What a beautiful sweater. The color is so soft. It looks great one you!

[Toni]

Fantastic! It fits sooooo well--I bet you'll get a lot of wear out of it.

[erin]

It's such a sophisticated soft pink cardigan! Beautiful work with those thousand beads! The round neck is a clever modification, definitely more wearable than the square neck. 4ply sure is classy knitting and I can understand its attractions.

[Terhi]

Oh my god, it's perfect! Lovely, lovely – I'm out of words here. :-) Great job, Joy!

[P]

it looks lovely. THe pink yarn, twinkly beads... I must admit I like the beaded version better too.

[froggy]

just gorgeous! beautiful job!

[Adele]

Beautiful. Great job!

[mimi]

It's a lovely sweater! what a great job! And I am glad that you are well now.

[dawn]

A wonderful cardigan, can't wait to pick mine up again (after finishing a few things). I've seen someone knitting the short sleeved kid silk haze cardigan, and it's gorgeous - sorry to tempt you! Love this pink colour too. Wish I'd gone with beads now!

dawn

[lyn]

Martha's gorgeous!!! And looks absolutely terrific on you... what lovely work... and with beads too :-)

[Eva Shiu]

Hi Joy, Martha is beautiful and perfect fit on you ! Good work.

[Siow Chin]

It really is a marvelous job! Tiny gauge and beads, wow. And your finishing is great! BTW, did you order the buttons from Rowan too? Love them.

[lauray]

Oh! oh! It's just so very lovely! Great work there. It's a pure classy classic. Great fit too! gorgeous!

[marjorie]

Joy, you are such a fast knitter! Can't imagine doing 4-ply+beads.

[Amelia]

Wow. She's gorgeous and fits you perfectly. If only I could get around to casting mine on...

[emy]

Great top! Lovely...

[Tracy]

Perfect, absolutely perfect.

[karen]

I guess love can drive you to anything - even knitting up a jacket that takes so much time and work. And you were well rewarded - it turned out gorgeous! Perfectly fitted! The texture created by that stitch-pattern is really beautiful, so are the beads!Congratulations! And thanks for commenting on my last handpainted skein!

[Michelle]

What a lovely pink cardigan with beads. How come you all can knit so fast, and produce so many great projects???? I really admired the knitting speed from Eva, Siow Chin and you, the great and fast knitters.

[Lois]

I would buy Rowan 37 just for this pattern alone. :)

great work!!

[thuy]

wow that cardi is gorgeous. i so want to try beading now. great job!

[Peggy]

I'm so proud you finished it! It looks beautiful on you.