Happy New Year everyone!

As always my blog posts are few and far between.  However, instead of shoving “update my blog more” onto my list of New Year’s resolutions, I’ve just decided to accept that I won’t ever be a prolific blogger and just try to make sure I write posts on those projects that require more detailed information than what can fit into an Instagram caption.

Like most things, the Puffer my Size has been on my To Knit list for ages. The main thing holding me back from knitting it was the wool choice. When I knit the child’s version of the Puffer I used the Petite Wool by We are Knitters and I was very happy with my choice so I decided to go with the same wool for the large version. I had two balls left over from that and ordered 5 more, hoping that 7 balls would be enough. You can find a yarn/price comparison between the drops Eskimo and the Petite Wool and also a link to a video showing how to knit the bubble stitch in my post on the mini Puffer here.

As with the smaller version, I debated using 8mm needles which is the recommended needle size for the Petite Wool instead of the 9mm needles suggested by the pattern. Again, I chickened out and trusted the pattern.

I got a 13 stitches per 10cm gauge using the 9mm needles so smaller than the 10 stitches per 10cm the pattern requires but I didn’t mind that because I am much smaller (read shorter) than the model in the picture and I didn’t want the cardigan to swamp me. The finished chest measurement of the cardigan is a generous 130cm which is a bigger circumference than my 8 month pregnant belly and almost double my chest measurement so I was willing to risk it coming out smaller. In the end the chest measurement of the finished garment using my smaller gauge is 119cm. This allows me to envelop my bump and will be pretty oversized once I am back to my (hopefully) normal size after the baby has arrived. If I do knit it again in the same wool, I will risk the 8mm needles as I think they will still give me the oversized look but will give the garment a bit more structure.

In terms of length, I’m only 153cm and I didn’t want the cardigan to reach down to my knees so I knew I’d need to make an adjustment somewhere. However, I didn’t really think about it properly and when I realised I’d knit the 44cm the pattern requires you to knit before dividing the cardigan into front and back sections, I didn’t want to unravel and decided to take off the length at the armscye which is the worst possible place to shorten a cardigan! I therefore only knit 8 out of the 10 decreases required on each of the front panels. The advantage to that is that the cardigan has a smaller neck opening so it doesn’t slip off my shoulders which I hate, the disadvantage is that the sleeves aren’t as wide as they are in the original. If you make an adjustment to the armscye you also obviously have to make an adjustment to the sleeve width, which in my haste to finish I also forgot to do, so I had to ease in a wide sleeve into a narrower hole which wasn’t actually too difficulty – in fact I only realised I had done this as I write this blog post! That’s why I love knits- there’s no chance of getting away with something like that when you’re sewing!

I’m not sure if it I mis measured the length of the sleeve or if it was as a result of my tampering with the armscye, but the arms could have been 3-4cm longer. It’s a small thing and almost imperceptible when the cardigan is on but it’s something that does bother me slightly.

Overall, I am so happy with the finished piece and have worn it so much already. It’s a great piece to wear now in the winter but I think it will really come into it’s own in a month or two when it can replace my winter coat on those milder days.

At a Glance:

Pattern: The Puffer my Size by Ministrikk

Finished Cardigan Measurements:

Chest 119cm

Length: 62cm

Arm length: 33cm.

Total yarn used: 6 1/2 100g balls of the Petite Wool by We Are Knitters