Tinder Cardigan for Jaime's Mom

My mom is a big follower of the Fancy Tiger Crafts blog and over the years I've heard a lot of "I want one" and "that would look great on me" hints dropped when she sees all the garments I make. I knew I had to knit her a sweater. I also knew she would be a thankful recipient of such an undertaking. I wanted her to love the finished garment so I let her choose the yarn and pattern. She chose Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Wool Socks and the Tinder Cardigan pattern by Jared Flood and the results are amazing.

Pattern: Tinder Cardigan by Jared Flood
Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Wool Socks
Size Made: 34.25"
Modifications: took out selvedge stitches on sleeves and knit them in the round until arm hole shaping

Look at that lovely lady! I'll be honest, it was terrifying to knit a garment for another person. The beauty of making your own clothes is you get really familiar with your body—its size and shape. While I took measurements for my mom and she is very similar in size to me (thanks, genes!), I was still scared. I couldn't try this on as I went and I would keep looking at it and second guessing everything. Thankfully after all was knit, seamed and blocked, it looks and fits great on her. Whew.

This sweater was no small feat. It is long in length and slightly oversized—it was a lot of knitting. It's knit in pieces and then seamed. Seaming is not always my favorite, but I'm finding the more I do it, the more confident I get and the more I enjoy it. My seams are looking so good! I'm so proud of the raglan seams and the side seams. I did chose to knit the sleeves in the round instead of seaming them and I simply took out the selvedge stitches to accomplish this.

This is my mom with her Skye Terrier, Shadow. She is a life-long breeder and promoter of this endangered dog breed from Scotland so I couldn't do a photoshoot of her without including one of her adorable dogs. She was in town for a dog show so that is where I presented her with her new sweater.

Like all Jared Flood patterns, the Tinder Cardigan has some lovely design features. The waffle stitch pattern was easy to execute and kept the project interesting. I love the contrast of the reverse stockinette sleeves. The collar and buttons bands are picked up and worked after the sweater is seamed. I finished this sweater with some 1" natural wood buttons.

My mom lives four hours from me so I wasn't able to give her this sweater till last week even though I finished it around the first of the year. I had wanted it to be a Christmas gift, but I didn't quite make it in time. The anticipation was killing me and it was so great to finally give this to her. She's already texted me that she's been wearing it and receiving compliments—I couldn't have knitted a sweater for a more grateful person and it feels great!

Gift knitting for the win! xoxo love you mom!