Lady in waiting

The summer has been super busy but I'm back and you should get ready to see more than a few knits.

What: Allure / Kim Hargreaves
How: Circular needles 2.5 mm ja 3.0 mm
From: Drops Lace, 119 g

It feels like a life time ago when I found Kim Hargreaves' books and knitting in English. One alltime favorite I've made from her is been Allure. Even though I knitted it from mohair which I haven't been able to stand for years now. Yet, the mohair Allure is a staple piece in my wardrope.

I've been planning for ages to reknit Allure in some nicer material. A year ago I went a bit crazy and started three different projects in Drops Lace - two sweaters and one shawl that made me insane. Amazingly, I finished the shawl already last autumn and this is the first of the two sweaters. (Actually I'm well on my way on getting rid of all my wips and the second sweater is coming along nicely too.)

But let's get back to the important stuff. So, I took a rematch at the favorite sweater with alpaca lace yarn. This project had three things I wouldn't recomend to anyone who isn't as much of a crazy knitting lady as I am:

1. A lace sweater in lace weight yarn.
2. And not in just any lace weight yarn, but BLACK lace weight yarn.
3. Modifying the pattern the whole time to not be knitted in pieces but seamlessly.

Yep, that's me. Just my kind of a project. Some say it's crazy. I say it's a challenge and boy, does it sound daunting and interesting.

The beginning was easy knitting. The front and back could easily be knitted in the round. All I had to do was to make sure my stitch count worked with the lace pattern. I knitted the body in one piece to underarms and then separated the front and the back. I could've used kitchener stitch to join the shoulders but it was way easier to just sew them together. With this light yarn, the seams are very slim.

Then came the interesting part. I modified the sleeves to be seamless as well and knitted them top down. First, I checked how many stitches there should be at the widest part of the sleeve and picked up that many stitches from the armholes. Then I needed to check how many stitches there should be at the highest point of the sleeve before starting short rows to shape the sleeve tops. After that it was just short rows taking in one more stitch at the end of each row until I had used all the stitches.

This would've been easy and a piece of a cake if the sweater wasn't black lace. And if I hadn't used smaller needles to make it easier to pick up the sleeve stitches and forgot to change back into the bigger needles. I managed to finish the first sleeve top just in time to realize I have to tink it all. Well, practice makes perfect, right?

One little problem was that I had no way of knowing, how long I should knit straight before starting sleeve decreases because the instructions only stated how long the sleeve should measure fromt the wrist, not the underarm. Oh well, I made a lucky guess and ended up being right.

Finally, all that was left was to pick up stitches from the neck opening to knit the turtle neck collar. I can't believe the pattern instructed to knit that in a separate piece as well and then sew on. Oh the times. You know, everything wasn't better in the golden olden days. Oh no, not at all!

The sweater turned out beautiful. I especially love the sleeves that are really wide and a bit too long just above the wrist. Black lace is always stylish and makes for a great outfit for more formal occations as well.

The yarn choice worked nicely to substitute the icky mohair. Except for the collar. The alpaca yarn is way too drapy to hold up the collar and it looks like there's just a pile of yarn where the collar should be. But you can't win every battle. Atleast the sweater isn't itchy.

We found this amazing back drop for the photoshoot and I'm pretty sure we will never be able to top this one. The pics are taken at Armadale caste ruins on the Isle of Skye. The lovely window shots aren't from the caste ruins but the old laundry ruins on the castle grounds

Bobelo

There's no stopping this design inspiration. I hope someone can keep up and knit these new designs.

What: Bobelo / Own pattern

How: Circular needles 3.5 and 4.0 mm

From: Brooklyn Tweed Loft, 277 g

When inspiration strikes, you have to get it onto your needles right at that moment. I had a vision of a relaxed, casual yet stylish boleroish cardigan with an interesting texture. So I went and got me a pile of Brooklyn Tweed Loft and started working on calculations and swatching right away. The knitting didn't take that long either, I finished the cardigan in a few weeks. I did have to unravel a bit due to my inability to calculate my own gauge correctly. But it was worth it and now I have a lovely new cardigan-thingy.

Bobelo is knitted in one piece flat. It's a funny shaped piece and you won't see it's final form until a bit later. Once you have finished the piece, you block it and sew two short seams that help make up the sleeves. Finally, you pick up stitches and work the cuffs, hem and the shawl collar. The shawl collar is shaped with short rows and the whole thing is finished with a neat i-cord bind off. The smaller needles are used for the cuffs. The rest of the cardigan is worked with the larger needles.

Bobelo is meant to worn with a lot of positive ease. The sleeves are quite short coming just beyond the elboves. The cardigan is shorter in the back and the fronts are a bit longer. You can wear it open or close it with a shawl pin.

Except for the borders, the cardigan is worked in bubble stitch that consists of dropped and picked up stitches. There is a chart, written instructions and a photo tutorial and I promise you, it's very easy.

The pattern has sizes XXS-XS-S (M1-M2-L1) L2-XL-XXL and you  can buy it by clicking the link below.

I chose to make mine in Brooklyn Tweedin Loft. Its woolly and airy texture is a perfect fit for this pattern. Its light and fluffy, yet warm. I made mine in the colorway Postcard which is this amazing blend of pink and grey.

I've used this one a lot ever since I finished it. I know I'm quite partial, but I thoroughly recommend this pattern.

Summer socks

Oh my, I'm in the mood for knitting socks.

What: Chrysanthemum frutescens / Hunter Hammersen
How: Circular needle 2.25 mm
From: Hedgehog Fibres Sock, 58 g

In the past few years, I've been sitting in the great hall of our university, listening to my colleagues dissertations. Since it's a very formal work thing, I haven't been knitting while there. However, this time it was my dear friend's turn to defend her thesis. And after reading it through and realizing, I wouldn't understand a word of the defense, I was pardoned and got a permission to take my needles with me.

I knew I needed something easy and small. Something that doesn't make a sound. And of course, as I didn't pick a project the night before, I was in a bit of a hurry in the morning. So, I took with me the only caked sock yarn in my stash and the needles to go with it. I had time to pick out a pattern later.

Oh well. This pattern has been in my Ravelry queue for several years but it's nothing close to being simple and easy. Nevertheless, I chose it because it was high time to shorten my queue.

This daisy-inspired sock pattern is a part of Hunter Hammersen's first Knitter's curiosity cabinet e-book. (And yes, I do realize, these aren't daisies in the pics.) The socks are knitted cuff down. First, you make a folded brim and then you knit beautiful lace that is much easier than it looks. I learned the pattern repeat quickly. The heel is worked with slipped stitches but these heels are purls instead of knitted stitches and it makes for a fun texture. The pattern suggests to make these rather short legs. At first, I thought it to be a silly idea but then I realized, I don't have any woolly summer socks. I mean, short legs might work well for warmer weather. And so I did as the pattern suggested.

The pattern called for provisional cast on but I thought it was unnecessary. As long as you cast on loosely, there's no need for the provisional cast on. You can just pick up stitches from the CO edge one at a time. Also, I made an extra half repeat of the lace pattern on the foot which is why there are knitted stitches at a different spot than in the pattern pics. But I don't mind. I like it this way as well. Otherwise there would've been an awful lot purled stitches.

In the end the difficult sock pattern I chose, turned out to be an easy one. Also, to top it all off, the dissertation was very audience friendly despite of the difficult topic and I was very glad the socks didn't require much attention.

Rosala

Back in January the yarn shop Kerä asked me if I would be interested in designing some garment for their own lamb's wool yarn. I'm not in the habit of saying no to lamb's wool! So, they sent me some yarn and I was happy to design a cardigan for their yarn.

What: Rosala / Own design

How: Circular needles 3.0 and 3.5 mm

From: Vänö Ull Lammull, 285 g

Because this design started with the yarn, I'll start with talking about the yarn. It is lovely! It's softer than a baby's bum but still strong enough to knit. Don't you just hate when some soft yarns break when you try to knit them? This yarn still smells of the lamb that donated the wool. And the yarn still has that natural grease, lanolin in it.

The scent can be a deal breaker for some people but I loved it. And after washing the cardigan, the smell is very mild and you can't really notice it unless you keep sniffing the cardigan. (Oh yes. I sniff. All the time.) The lanolin made the yarn a bit greasy while knitting but after washing, the garment feels like velvet. I absolutely loved the yarn, so thank you so much for the oppoturnity.

I wanted to come up with a simple design for this softest of softs yarn. The kind of soft and comforting knit that you'll want to wrap yourself in when you feel like you need a softer take on life. And I reached my goal. Every time I put this cardigan on, it makes me feel a bit softer, gentler and lovey-dovey.

The cardigan features full length raglan sleeves with ribbing at the cuffs and hem. The button band is garter stitch and the neck band is knitted in stockinette stitch and allowed to roll. The highlight of the cardigan is a geometric lace in the sides and sleeves.

The pattern has 9 different sizes and it's meant to be worn with a bit of positive ease so choose a size that has bust circumference approximately 2''/5 cm wider than yours.

The pattern calls for sport weight yarn and depending on the size, uses 875-1200 yards / 800-1100 m.

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry by clicking the link below. On top of everything, Kerä is offering a 10 % discount with the code "rosalacardigan" in case you would like to knit this in Vänö Ull Lammull.

Oh, and the name. Rosala is an island in the Finnish archipelago where Kerä has their headquarters.