The winner for the Jimmy Beans Wool Smartstix giveaway is….. Melissa!! Melissa, you should have an email from me in your inbox right now… congrats! On winning, not on getting an email from me. that would be a weird thing to congratulate someone on. I send emails all the time.

Original Pattern: Mon Petit Gilet Raye

Knitter Extraordinaire:  Karen (Ravelry ID)

Mods: Adjusted the neckline by incorporating this pattern, and added in a detail along the bottom of the yoke from this pattern. Details can be found on her project page, here.

What Makes This Awesome: Small tweaks can yield big results, as this beautiful cardigan shows. I love Karen’s subtle changes to the neckline to get a better fit, and the detail of the arrows along the lower yoke are just the right size- not too big to overwhelm the two-row gradient stripes. A larger motif would likely throw the small stripes off balance, especially when there is already lots of fun colour in play and zero ease.

A really important takeaway from this modification is that Karen used different patterns for the changes she made, which is a great way to approach modification for  pattern if you are feeling unsure about trying to wing it. Think about other similar patterns that have elements that you’d like to try and are in the same gauge – they are excellent for providing a bit of a roadmap if you are feeling less-than-confident when approaching modifications.