Thursday 6 July 2017

Barley Twist Cardigan: what the testers did!

After they have been tech edited, I have all of my garment designs test knitted by generous volunteers who recieve a free copy of the pattern ahead of publication, they then knit the item in a yarn of their choosing (to a deadline) and provide feedback about the knitting experience and the finished object.* Here's what a couple of my test knitters did with my latest pattern, the Barley Twist cardigan.

Julia (Julluuh on Ravelry) knitted the cardigan in the 18 months size in a beautiful shade of purple. She used Drops Nepal (65% wool, 35% alpaca), an excellent value yarn (all yarns from Drops are excellent value! - they're great if you are new to knitting as you can make a whole garment in a natural product in only a little more than acrylic would cost) to knit this super-cute long-sleeved version. Look at that hanger!

Image copyright Julia (Julluuh on Ravelry)

Nalan (nalanhobi on Ravelry) used a wonderful shade of green (Nako Superlambs Special, 50% wool, 50% acrylic) to create her 12 months size version. Nalan made a couple of minor modifications to the pattern as she knitted: she omitted the increases down the sides of the body, to give a straight body shape, and moved the buttonholes a stitch closer to the edge.

Image copyright Nalan (Nalanhobi on Ravelry)

Sandra (SandraRobben on Ravelry) knitted the cardigan in the largest size. She used some cute silver sparkly yarn (Zeeman Sparkle, 95% acrylic, 5% manufactured fibres), and tested the short-sleeved version. As you can see, Sandra's cardigan (modelled by her daughter) has plenty of growing room, and makes an excellent neutral layer that can be worn over long sleeved tops.

Image copyright Sandra (SandaRobben on Ravelry)

One of the main things that came out of testing was that the increase I used for the raglan increases was a bit confusing (it's a really easy increase, but is an unusual one, so not many of my testers were familiar with it), so I added a photo tutorial to the end of the pattern to cover this. Pattern testers really do make a difference to a finished pattern!

If you've been inspired by these pictures from testers and would like to knit the pattern for yourself, head to the pattern page now to pick up your copy. If you use the code TWIST you can get the pattern for the introductory price of £3.75 (the code is valid until 11.59pm BST, Tuesday 18th July 2017, after which the pattern will cost £4.50).

*If you'd be interested in test knitting for me, head to my Ravelry group and let me know via the call for testers thread. Once you've let me know, I'll earburn you every time I have a test knit ready and you can let me know if you're interested in the pattern I'm testing. Test knitters must be Ravelry members.

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