Pioni

Do you know the feeling when you're not at your finest trying to take pics of a finished knit? You know how that unpleasant feeling transmits itself from the pics to the actual knit? Yep. I almost wanted to throw this lovely little cardigan in the trash because it started to seem impossible to get good photographs of it. Luckily I and more than one photographer were persistent enough to keep trying because it really is a very sweet cardigan.

What: Pioni / Own pattern

How: Circular needles 4.0 and 4.5 mm

From: Little Grey Sheep Stein Fine Wool 4 ply, 430 g

Last spring I visited Edinburgh Yarn Fest for the very first time and I bought lovely British wool yarn that has been aching to get on the needles. The yarn is light and airy, woolly and warm - very sheepish. Little Grey Sheep is a small family farm and the yarn labels even have this lovely story about the life of the sheep and who shears them at Christmas. So sweet!

Are you one of those knitters that hate ending up on sleeve island when you feel like the sweater should already be finished? I know I am. So I had a vision of a cardigan where you would start by working the sleeves and they wouldn't come to haunt you at the end. That's how Pioni was born.

Pioni starts off working a bolero-like top part sideways from one wrist to the other. You will work the first sleeve in the round, bind off a few stitches at the underarm, work the back flat, cast on a few stitches for the other underarm and join in the round to work the second sleeve. There's a chunky cable going across the sleeves and the back, and the rest of the top is broken 2x1 ribbing.

Once you finish the top part, you'll pick up stitches around it to work the body top down in one color brioche. The body has two increase rounds to give it A-line shape. The construction of the cardigan also makes it so that the fronts are shorter than the back.

Finally, you will pick up stitches along the fronts and back of the neck to work a button band in garter stitch. I designed this cardigan to have larger than average button holes because at least my button stash is bursting with those gorgeous huge buttons you almost never get to use. The button band is finished off with an i-cord bind off.

I really enjoyed knitting this cardigan but taking photos ended up being a pain in the butt. There was always something wrong: either my clothes were crinkled, it was way too windy, too bright or too dark. Luckily in the end, I did end up with enough nice photos to present the cardigan to you.

Pioni can be found on Ravelry and you can get it -25 % during this week using the code SWEETPEONIES. In case you were wondering, pioni is Finnish for peony.

Some crafters are seasonal knitters. They either stop knitting completely for the summer, or at least switch to cotton yarns. I'm all about wool all year long. Even though this summer in Finland was scorching, I didn't mind having a sweater quantity of 100 % wool in my lap most of the summer. And it's lucky I didn't because now as the weather has turned and the temperatures are sinking, I get to wrap myself in this warm woolly cardigan.