Wolf Cardigan Pattern (Original Version)

The Project Hail Mary Pattern!

Was so stoked to learn that this was the real pattern adapted for Project Hail Mary's iconic fox cardigan! This was my second time ever trying knit colourwork, first time on a garment. Sized up one needle size as I am a 46-48" bust but really I could have kept the suggested gauge. Grid was easy to edit using stills from the movie to get the fox look, and I bought chunky acrylic yarn as I could not afford the kit. A really fun knit with some great new skills to learn - I loved the pocket construction!

Some problems

I bought this pattern knowing I would have to change the color work some in order to make it the Project Hail Mary cardigan. That wasn’t too hard and I thought the instructions were easy enough to follow, but when I started actually knitting I quickly ran into several, kind of infuriating, problems. To start with, the pattern makes a point to say that any casting off for the shaping of the arms and neckline must be done at the beginning of a row (which makes sense) but then the pattern itself is COMPLETELY off by at least one row on EVERY panel and sleeve. You will have to fudge an extra row every single time in order to get the row to start on the correct side for casting off. I counted the rows of the grid a dozen times and then had others double check, so I really don’t think I’m just miscounting every time. Also the sizing for this cardigan isn’t accurate either and you’ll want to make a bigger size regardless of what the pattern claims the chest measurements are. I had to completely restart my cardigan more than once. It’s not unusable but it’s REALLY annoying considering it’s a paid pattern and I was really starting to feel like I was losing my mind working on this, so just keep that in mind and good luck, knitters!

Very comprehensive

This is the first full cardigan I have ever knitted, and this pattern made it a lot less daunting. It felt a lot less like I was throwing myself in the deep end (even through I definitely was) and more like I had a solid plan. Overall, it has been very helpful.