I love yarn, which is just as well since my life is dominated by it. Sometimes, though, the mystery of it can be frustrating as well as fascinating. A certain yarn can let you know right away that it should be made into a sock, or a shawl, or a cozy sweater, or a cowl. Often, though, the yarn is different or unique and doesn’t necessarily give you a clear message – those yarns are a challenge. Jettie Hunt brought in a wool and linen blend from years ago – very pretty hand-dye in vintage shades of rose and green. The fibers are a contrast in characteristics – warm wool, cool linen – with a rough texture and stiff feel that will soften significantly after knitting and blocking. All that needed to be taken into account when choosing a pattern . After much swatching and searching, Jettie found the Nevermore jacket on Ravelry, with texture at the collar and all the trim and stockinette in-between, a good choice for the yarn.
I’m having a similar dilemma with Dyelot Yarn’s Bamboo. I think of bamboo as a heavy, slippery fiber and began a lacy cardigan, (think I showed you last week) which I shortened considerably to allow for stretch and spread. After knitting about 3/4 of the sweater, the cardigan felt quite heavy but showed no tendency to grow or drape. For a summer cardigan two fairly undesirable characteristics are heavy and chunky-looking.
Out it came and the search for another pattern began. I’m now just past the first sleeve of the Mythos Cardigan from Knitty :
and this feels a little more appropriate, lighter, without the yarn’s own texture and semi-solid colors fighting with a very textured lace pattern. We’ll see how this goes. Sometimes it takes a while to find the perfect project, and that’s something I still love about this whole knitting thing!
Karen Walter made this pretty Vodka Lemonade sweater in Cascade’s Ultra Pima, a beautiful mercerized cotton.
The cardigan is a perfect little jacket to throw on for running errands or in a cool office or restaurant. It can be casual or dressy and can be closed with a pin or allowed to fall open. The seed stitch trim, eyelet raglans,
and the tiny bit of lace at the hem
are really beautiful, feminine touches.
Lory Fleischer made this adorable sailor dress for her granddaughter. It’s so cute!!
Lynne’s Honeymeade Shawl class wrapped up this past weekend. Those girls had too much fun in class – I didn’t believe they were actually accomplishing anything but look at these beautiful shawls! Here is Caol Hullinger’s, made from Panda Silk:
and here is Liz Heckman’s, made from Madelinetosh Merino Light:
So beautiful, even unblocked!
Kristin Ruth made these pretty mitts from Maxima – they look so awesome with all those sideways cables:
And here is our little girl, who did indeed escape from her play pen last Wednesday and is now running rampant through the shop, stopping to get a quick drink before continuing with her terrorizing of the household, now that she can reach everything and get everywhere:
She’s getting leggy!
See you soon…
Trish
