Girl's Pinwheel Cardi

One of the items at the Red Purl Holiday Sale that I haven't shown off yet is the Girl's Pinwheel Cardi. I really tried to have "modeled" pictures for you since the garment would make much more sense that way, but I couldn't get it done. Having no rugrats around makes it a little harder!

But we will press on. I will try to explain and you can do your best to understand. (I'm very sure you can...)

Here is the cardi laid out for the larger size:
And here it is smaller:
Do you see how we did that? Take the top of the first, flip it to the bottom and it makes the shawl bigger but the size smaller. Roll up the sleeves a little further and it'll fit a wee munchkin.

When they grow, flip it so the shawl is smaller, but the length is longer and unroll the sleeves a little. Voila!

Here's the back (larger size):
You can see the pinwheel effect here on the back. The knitting is started in the middle and spiraling increases create the shape.

Here's the smaller size:
The large shawl hides a lot of the back detail, but it works.

This may help you picture the construction method:
As I said, it's started in the middle and knit around and around to make a big flat circle. A few stitches are held separate at some point and later worked out as sleeves.

Speaking of the middle, here is my starting point:
For anyone that's tried to start knitting at the center of the circle, you have to admit it's pretty sweet. (Not the picture; I have to find a way to photograph reds and purples properly!) Project Stats
Started: 07 Jun 09
Finished: 15 Nov 09
Pattern: Pinwheel Sweater by Shelley Mackie
Materials: acrylic rescued from unfortunate 80s sweater
I had promised in an earlier post to demonstrate how I did it, but now is not the time.

I will say that it's done with a figure 8 cast on (a type of provisional cast on) performed over the starting tail. When you get a couple rows in, you can pull on the tail and tighten the opening up as tight as you want. It really looks like the stitches just start up from nothing.

But you do have to have a good sturdy working yarn. I used the same method on my hat-heel socks since they also start with a knitted circle. When I pulled on that yarn, it broke on me! Not good!...but I did recover. I'll show you the method sometime, but just not right now.

And one last look at the loopy edge:
It took me forever to finish this because it was very low on my priority list, but it was a fun easy knit. I think it would also be a fun thing for a girl to wear. It would probably need a pin to hold it shut in the front, but what girl doesn't want just one more accessory anyway!?