When we saw the Hummingbird Cardi, featured in the Aviary Collection, we immediately fell in love. The simplicity of the knotted double crochet stitch creates the perfect backdrop for the colorful granny squares, letting the simple motifs shine. Several of us wanted to make our own version, and we decided a crochet along was in order. We all recently gathered at the office to take photos of our finished sweaters and love how unique each sweater turned out.
The construction of the sweater made for easy modifications and we all made simple but impactful changes to our sweaters. From the choice of colors to the length and collar finishes, each cardi is customized to make the perfect sweater for the stitcher.
Color Choices: Kate and Ranielle both decided they loved the original color scheme and tweedy yarn and kept to the same palette. Jen used the same colors as the original for her squares but used a neutral brown for her main color. Lee also used a neutral gray for her main color but selected bright pops of color for her squares. Lex used a gorgeous deep teal for her main color and then stuck to a blue palette with a pop of red for her squares. Carlene selected a bright happy green for her main color and then used multiple shades of purple with a pop of green for her squares.
Yarn: Lee used Swish DK, everyone else used City Tweed DK.
Other modifications: Carlene, Kate, and Lex all finished their sweaters with a ribbed or double crocheted collar and front bands narrower in width than the original shawl collar. Jen added a shawl collar, but she knit it it. Lee added a clever granny stripe collar. Carlene also added granny stripes to add length to her cardi. We could not be more delighted with how these modifications look.
We love the clever use of granny stripes on Carlene & Lee’s sweaters and think this is a great use of the leftover contrasting colors used in the squares.
What about you – will you stick to the original sweater or make changes to customize your sweater to fit your own style?
