Converted hoodie

I have lots and lots and LOTS of part balls of yarn in my stash.  I need to use them up, but the trouble is, I often find it hard to judge just how much yarn is left in each of them.  My kitchen scales, while fine for measuring flour and fat, are not terribly accurate beyond 50g.  One of these days I will invest in electronic scales which can weigh to individual grammes.

I had bookmarked a pattern for an aran weight hoodie from the Tricksy Knitter website, because I liked the jagged edge to the stripe.  The pattern is knitted all in one from the neck down, and no-sew patterns are my favourite, particularly when I am knitting small sizes.  I chose two substantial part-balls from my Aran stash, and started to knit.  The main ball was a very warm oatmeal yarn, and I picked a bluey-green to put in the contrast stripe as in the pattern.  However, as I got on with the cardigan, I realised that I had overestimated the amount of oatmeal yarn that I had.  An extra green stripe in the body and contrasting ribs still did not leave me enough to knit the hood in the main colour.  I thought about knitting the hood in the contrast, but decided that it wouldn't look right.  So I went for a contrast collar instead.  Using an old pattern of my mum's to get an idea of the increases that would be needed to let it lie properly, I knitted a 2x2 rib collar.

Thankfully, the end result looks as though it was intended to be that way!  The cardigan should fit a 3 year old, and will be going into the box I'm preparing for Knit for Peace.