Weekend Knitting

I went away last weekend and I might have overdone casting on new projects, without finishing anything!

Clockwise from left: Reef from Ondine, Tuesday from Blue Monday, Breaker from Ondine, and the sleeves of Mandarin from Chinoiserie, all by Louisa Harding and all in Adorn Yarns Cotton Cashmere, except Tuesday which is in Adorn Yarns Silky Merino DK. Now I just have to finish them!

Skipper!

Well, it's been a while and I have been knitting, but I've also been doing plenty of unpulling. This yarn started off as Kim Hargreaves' Patsy from Touching Elegance, and I had knitted quite a bit of it, but I just wasn't happy with knit, so I unpulled it. And then I saw the new Louisa Harding books and I fell in love again with her patterns and bought a pile from the UK. The first project is Skipper from Ondine, which took quite a bit of tweeking to get the fit right and hence more unpulling. The body to the underarms is a size 10, the fit across the front and back (the same) is a size 12 and the length of the arm hole is a size 14. I also lengthened the body and the sleeves until they felt right for me. Here's the outcome:

The three big cable up the front and back (I reversed mine to that they were on my right hand side) are very dramatic (and easy) while showing off the beautiful yarn from the Wool Baa (Adorn DK wool/silk mix). 

And for those of you that care that's what a canon 135mm f2L lens at f2 and closest focussing distance (0.9m) looks like. New favourite lens...thanks Roo!

Next project on the needles is Louisa Harding's Mandarin from Chinoiserie, another beautiful pattern and one I've been thinking about knitting for a while. As the body is knitted in one piece to the underarm, the bottom fair isle pattern is knitted in one piece, that's 217 odd stitches of fair isle per row and I'm managing one row a day! Lucky is a cotton cardigan, I should have it finished by summer! The yarn is from Wool Baa, this time DK Cotton Cashmere and taken with that new lens again...

Lily

Remember those red jumpers I knitted all about 18 months ago? No...well, here's the film, and here's the news from the Berlin Film Festival. Congratulations Julia and Kasimir!

Finding the time...

...to finish both sewing and knitting projects is difficult at present, but here are two I've managed to finish and photograph. First is my favourite summer top (just as it's long sleeved partners was my favourite winter top). The knit is from Tessuti and the pattern is from Wendy Mullins Sew U Home Stretch, called Get the Scoop, cut on the bias (not matching stripes) and without elastic in the neck and waist. I just used the twin needle to finish the neck, sleeves and bottom. Easy!

Then I finally managed to finish Kim Hargreaves' Haze from Misty, a generous boat neck jumper with big raglan sleeves and a lovely trim bottom band. Knitted in Adorn Yarns' Cotton Cashmere DK, it's a cuddly jumper for chilly autumn evenings. 

Finally...Fay!

I started knitting Kim Hargreaves' Fay (from Precious) in October last year in Jaggerspun and didn't like the lace pattern; didn't like the gauge; just wasn't happy. I started again in Leonie's yarn (Adorn Yarns Silk Cashmerino 4ply) and it's taken me an age to finish it and then to sew it up...not sure what all the hoopla was about, it's fabulous now it's finished. I left off the buttons on the lower edging as I realised I'd scratch my camera when working.

The stitch definition is great with this yarn.

Embrace

Which is exactly what this lovely cardigan by Kim Hargreaves from Misty does when you put it on. Knitted in Adorn Yarns Silky Merino DK in Ash, I've been wearing it all week. Underneath I'm wearing one of Wendy Mullins' Sew U Home Stretch tops, the boat neck...my new favourite! The fabric is the same striped jersey knit Nikkishell used for her drape dress from Tessuti.

The short row shaping creates a beautiful curve across the back and down to the fronts that was really easy to knit. 

Catching up

I have been working away on my knitting and sewing, but just not finding the time to photograph what I've been doing (which is especially poor of me as a photographer). Oh, well...

It's been a freezing wet winter in Melbourne and so I had to divert some of my energies to making a warm jumper I could wear immediately. Enter Kim Hargreaves' Briar (sweater length) from Winter Blooms. I LOVE this jumper, hence the already worn look. Knitted in Adorn Yarns Silky Cashmerino 4ply in Aquamarine held double. I dropped my needles to 4mm and 4.5mm to get the gauge made no other changes. While it might have been sensible to add to the wide neckline, it is fabulous just the way it is!

Also finished is my second Ripple from Kim Hargreaves' Nectar. This is knitted in Adorn Yarns Cotton Cashmere DK in Malt. I've worn this quite a bit and washed it twice now and it's becoming softer and softer and warmer and warmer.

Buttons from Buttonmania of course!

I'm still plugging away at my purple Fay, but at least I've finished the front and the back now! Also just about finished is Kim Hargreaves' Embrace from Misty, which is an easy knit with some really interesting short row shaping on the hem. This time I'm using Adorn Yarns Silky Merino DK in Ash.