Yours, always

Most of the time I set out planning to design something. Other times, the yarn turns into a design even without trying. Almost as if the yarn itself already knows what it ought to be knitted into. 

What: Yours, always / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 2.75 mm

From: Tukuwool Harmas + ITO Sensai + Shibui Knits Silk Cloud, 21+14+8 g

In September, I went to a weekend knitting retreat organized by my LYS. All of us got lovelyt project bag with yarn in it - a skein of Tukuwool Harmas. Harmas is a special batch of Tukuwool spun of Kainuugrey that is a Finnish landrace. Kainuugrey makes for a soft and airy yarn in a gorgeous light grey shade.

I kept looking at the skein thinking that such a special yarn needs to be knitted into something extra special. It didn't take long for some silk mohair to start whispering in my ear that they wanted to play with the new Harmas yarn.

Once I matched the yarns, I didn't really have to think while knitting. The beanie kinda manifested on its own on my needles.

So I designed this super sweet hat in luxurious yarns. Tukuwool Harmas is soft but airy and rustic. It'makes for such a fun and gorgeous combo with silk mohair.

The yarns are so different and luxurious in different ways. Two-color brioche seemed just the perfect way to combine them. I used Tukuwool Harmas for the main color on top of the brioche.

For the contrast color, I combined three different silk mohairs that make the beanie the softest ever. Three strands of silk mohair were not only the right weight but also gave endless opportunities to play with colors. I used two browns and one silver grey silk mohair. They painted the beanie into the colors of November in Finland. For the next beanie, I'll use brighter colors!

You can find the beanie pattern on Ravelry. There's also a 20% introductory discount with the code NOVEMBER. The code is valid through November 27th.

One of the best things about the pattern is how little yarn you need to make the beanie. I think I'll go stash diving in my scrap yarn basket for another one!

Quiet

Sometimes this just click into place. This summer at our local knit fest, I fell in love with the new handdyed Aara yarn. They had few OOAK skeins and of course I had to fall for one of those colors. We made a deal: I'd design a sweater for the yarn and the dyers would try to figure out the recipe for the color. It was a bit risky but I think we both nailed it!

What: Quiet / Own pattern

How: Circula needles 3.0 and 3.5 mm

From: Aara Lempi, 254 g

Aaran Lempi is a single-ply SW merino yarn base. And the color, just the perfect greyish purple or pink - depending on the light. The colorway was named Kriikuna, Finnish for damson. And the sweater was named Quiet for that little, quiet kind of beauty it has.

The sweater is worked seamlessly top-down, obvs. It has a folded neckline, round yoke and long sleeves. 

The sweater has positive ease but the cropped hem is fitted and ends at the natural waist. I think this fit is my all time favorite - and that's a lot to say for someone who's been knitting non-stop for the past 20 years! When did I get so old? 

The star of the sweater is the hem ribbing. It is a gorgeous combination of lace and twisted stitches. It has these little sleeves that transform into twisted ribbing. 

And don't be scared of seeing the purl side on top! The sweater is worked inside out, so almost all of it is just knitting. The purl side is turned on top only just before the ribbing. You'll only need to work purled stitches on the ribbing and short rows that shape the back.

Not only is the cropped fit super sweet, it also means low yardage. I made my sample sweater with just 2.5 skeins! The pattern comes with 11 sizes, ranging from 35.25-67.75'' finished bust (intended ease is 6''). My test knitter made the largest size with just 4 skeins.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry and there's an introductory discount of 25% with the code AARA until November 20th.

If the design process and yarn dying were successes, photographing this one was a pain. First, I had to block it twice. I left the sweater on our back deck to dry on a sunny morning and when I came home from work it had been pouring for two hours! The amount of water I could squeeze from the sweater was just insane. So I had to block and dry it again - this time inside. 

Once the sweater was finally dry, I went to get my hair done for the pics. Just as we got to the side of the field for the photoshoot the sky broke. We had just about 2 minutes to get the pics taken before my hairdo was gone going gone. When I ran home after the photoshoot I no longer had bangs but a wet rat on my forehead. Needless to say, the sweater needed yet another blocking. 

Xenakis

I've been in the mood for colorwork lately. It's mostly manifested as just me buying yarn for colorwork projects.

What: Xenakis / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 4.0 mm

From: Retrosaria Vovó, 41 g

One of my most recent purchases was three skeins of Retrosaria Vovó, a gorgeous, rugged non-superwash wool. The label alone was enough to get me to buy the yarn as it features this amazing tattooed knitting grandma. I had a vision for a beanie and this time the vision made it all the way onto my needles.

Xenakis is a simple and fun beanie with colorwork playing with three colors. Though, there are only few rounds with all three colors to mess up your yarns. To balance those out, there's also lots of plain vanilla stockinette stitch with just one color.

The hat is topped off with a beautiful star pattern to hide the crown decreases.

As per usual, you can find the pattern in my Ravelry store and if you use the code VOVO, you can get 25% discount during this weekend.

The yarn was new to me but I really loved it. It's woolly and rugged without being harsh. Lately, I've been concentrating on non-superwash yarns - they feel so natural.

I chose the colors to suite me and designed the beanie for myself but Hubby stole it straight away. And darn, doesn't it look better on him - as if I designed for him. I didn't but he took it anyways. I guess I'll have to make myself another one.