Toddler's Autumn Cardigan

Its Autumn here in Australia at the moment, so its perfect timing to finish this cardigan that has been a work in progress for quite a long time! This cardigan is so very special to me, because I started the granny squares while I was in hospital after my son was born.

Autumn Cardigan

I was so very sick when Thomas was born, which is why he had to come 9 weeks early. He was in the baby nursery for nearly 8 weeks, and I was in hospital for 2 weeks. I chose this beautiful 4 ply baby yarn when I was pregnant before I knew I was having a boy. I now wish I chose dark blue instead of the orange, but at the time I thought these colours would be good for either a girl or boy, but now I don't like the orange.

Autumn Cardigan

I wanted to crochet when I was in hospital but couldn't do anything too complicated as it was too hard for me to concentrate. My husband brought in some yarn from home and I chose the most expensive yarn I have bought which I was saving for a nice cardigan. But when I was sick I simply started making granny squares thinking I would make a rug! Some of the granny squares are not even simple granny squares like most of them are. Some squares start with an attempt at a circle but I didn't know how to do them properly at that stage so the circles are wonky! I did do some strange things when I was sick.

the granny squares I made while I was sick in hospital

As summer was drawing to a close and the promises of a chill in the air could be felt, I went back to these granny squares. The thought of this very expensive yarn going to waste bothered me. I didn't want to waste it in another bunny rug, the yarn is so soft it should be worn. Thomas did need a cardigan, so I started increasing the rounds on some of the squares so they were all one of two sizes. I started to plan how I would put the squares into a granny square jacket. It was all I could do with these squares.

Doing a spot of autumn gardening

 I ran out of yarn towards the end and started unravelling a few of the tiny ones that were left over. I only just had enough to make this cardigan, but was determined not to buy any more of this wool. Its more than twice the price of the Australian wool I now buy from Bendigo in Victoria. With this 4 ply baby wool I used a 3.5mm hook.

checking out the baby cherry tomatoes

This cardigan took me a long time to finish, even though in the end the design is very simple and straight forward. I learnt a lot from making this one. I've now decided the best way to join granny squares is with a yarn needle to create an invisible join. I now also join yarn using a Russian join instead of knotting. These methods reduce the ends eventually showing through after wash and wear. And because I've made it for my own son I'll be able to see first hand how it wears. I expect the joins I made with these new methods will persevere longer than the old knotting and weaving methods I used to use.

"Hello" from Thomas

All in all I'm relieved and pleased how this turned out. This has been bothering me for quite a while, and I thought I would just have to end up making something not very good with the squares I started when I was sick. In the end, its turned out rather nice after all. Thomas seems happy with it!