Accuweather tells me to expect high 80’s – 90 degree temperatures and lots of humidity for the foreseeable future (like I need them to tell me that – it is July, after all); therefore I have developed an insane desire to knit a lovely big woolly cardigan.
This happens to me every summer. I spend much of the end of winter and all of spring knitting summer yarns into light tops, and by now, my hands, eyes, and needles yearn for the knitting goodness of a true 100% wool. I started stocking Plymouth Homestead last fall but never got around to making the nice warm cardigan that was in my head when I ordered it. It’s not an expensive yarn and there are always models to be made for pricier yarns and for those that are tough to visualize as a knitted something until you can see it or touch it as a finished item. Homestead is just nice wool, spun in Peru, and it’s so traditional, with nothing very sexy going on, that it’s easy to ignore in favor of other softer, multi-colored, fluffier or whatever yarns distract you when you’re in the shop.
However, its time has come. I chose this wonderful sheepy color:
and began to swatch:
and all of my woolly desires were satisfied!
It will become this pretty and cozy cardigan from Isabell Kraemer called Aileas:
which I love because of the faux-cables that are easy to work and won’t slow you down too much but add a lot to the look. I love the pockets. I love the deep rib. I love the fold-over collar, which in my case will be lined with a coordinating? matching? contrasting? (Don’t know yet) color of Herriott Fine, which is soft, soft alpaca. Hey, I’m not a particularly itch-sensitive gal but even I don’t want woolly wool against my neck all day. This pretty pink version shows a contrasting lining:
Sweet, right?
Speaking of sweet, look at what popped in the door the other day:
It’s the latest offering from Zen Yarn Garden’s Artwalk series, based on this painting:
Willem de Kooning’s Garden in Delft. Marci Frey came in as I was opening the package and we had a pretty good time running all over the shop to find some things to spark up the pretty colors (Marci loves bright!):
Come get yours!
