The Devil's in the Details

I still need to photograph Wallaby #2, but in the meantime, here is Wallaby #3, for my adorable niece, E the Magnificent. This one was all about the details. I had seen someone's wallaby (sorry, I can't remember whose!) with great cabling on it and decided I wanted to do something similar.


I started with a K4xP2 cable rib (every 6 rows) on the bottom and sleeve ribbing.
I left the pocket alone because I knew I wanted to do cables on the raglan, and I thought that might be too much. Years and years ago (maybe 15?) I made my sister a sweater that had cables on the raglan, and I always loved how those looked. So, in case you're interested, here's how I did it: K2tog, K1, P1, K2, sl m, K2, P1, K1, SSK every other round, and cabled the 4 stitches (2 on each side of the marker) every 6 rounds. I just had enough space so that the cables met up at the top of the shoulder (had to fudge it a little).
I made the cables mirror images of each other. Then I carried the cables into the neck ribbing. Here I also had to fudge by adding and decreasing stitches to make it all work out, but you can't even see it. I left the neck ribbing 4x2 between the 2 sets of cables, but I suppose I could have done a 1x1 there -- that might have meant less fudging. Then I carried the cables up into the hood.


I really love how all the little details came together (considering that I made up the neck and hood as I went along!). E the M is coming in to the city today, so I hope to get some modelling shots this week.

Specs: Wonderful Wallaby, size 6 for my very tall 3 1/2 year old niece
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, Orchid, 2 skeins (I know, I know, acrylic, but I had some from my last trip to AC Moore, it's really really soft, and the whole sweater cost me under $5. Although by the end, it was making my palms itch.)
Needles: Addi US 7 (4.5mm) for the body, Addi US 6 (4mm) for ribbing, and Clover 7 dpns (4.5mm) for sleeves.
Gauge: About 4.75 st/inch

A final note: I know I'm repeating myself, but I love love love this pattern. It's so easy to customize to put your own special touch on it. I also love that the neck opening is deep, which makes it super easy for kids to get over their heads (one reason mine object to certain sweaters), yet it's not sloppy looking. I have some RYC Cashsoft aran I bought on sale for W's batman sweater, and I think I will use the Wallaby base to do it.