April Cardigan - Pistachio LOTV Ver.
April 11, 2026
Project recap
- Ravelry: PurringYarn’s April Cardigan - Pistachio Ver.
- Time spent: 80 hours
- Yarn: ColourMart 2/18NM heavy lace wt merino kent (444364 Pistacchio)
- Needle: US 6/4.0mm (body), US 5 (ribbing), US 2 for the button band
- Gauge: 21 sts = 4"
- Duration: -
- Pattern: April Cardigan by PetiteKnit
Errata
Errata: in the sleeve increase section, the description should be “work row 1 and row 2 each 16 times aka a total of 32 rows (16 rows for 1 and 16 rows for row 2).
Design modifications
- Double knitted button band with 11 sts instead of 1x1 button band. Took me 4 times to get the right look. I followed this tutorial.
- I add a lily of the valley embroidery patch to the cardigan to give an even more spring vibe :)
- 4 shell buttons made in thick Torraba Shell 塔罗贝. I absolutely adore them! Initially planned to use wooden flower shape buttons but I don’t feel it fits the colour nor the lily of the valley patch, so I chose white-ish buttons as a result. I ran out of the green thread so I used white thread for the top two buttons.
Yarn chicken - I won and I lose
This is my first time using heavy lace weight Colourmart yarn and I’m not very familiar with it. Initially I planned to use 2ply but it turned out my gauge would be too small. After swatching gauge in 2ply, 3ply and 4ply, I decided to split the ply and re-wind them into 3 ply. The re-winding was a disaster - never again! For future record I would rather just buy 1 ply and wind them by myself.
The trouble of yarn is not over. When planning for the project and calculating the gauge, I knew I might need to fight yarn chicken. In the half way of the body, I calculated the remaining part including double knitted button band and thought I could barely make it. When I’m starting the sleeves I realized my previous calculation didn’t include the amount of another sleeve, so I didn’t hesitate and ordered another cone of yarn. Turned out this was a mistake - my calculation was off probably because 1) I over estimated the amount of double knitted button band 2) I got lazy and didn’t count in the decrease of sleeves.
At the end, I won the yarn chicken because I had enough yarn. On the other hand, I also lose because I ordered an extra cone that serves no purpose. Well, I’m sure I’ll find some accessory for it, but not now.
Project timeline
- – Cast on.
- – Separate sleeves and body.
- – Finished body. Order new buttons and more yarn.
- - Tried and frogged double knitted button band 4 times. Still not satisfied, uhh.
- - Finished one sleeve.
- - Finished both sleeves.
- - Re-knitted body ribbing and added more length of stockinette.
- - Bind off and block.
- - Sew in buttons and add embroidery patch.
New techniques learned
How to Knit a Double Knitted Button Band on a Cardigan | Knitting Tutorial - YouTube