featherweight cardigan

Pattern: Featherweight cardigan (rav link), by Hannah Fetig

Yarn: Malabrigo lace, in the colour Natural 63

Needles: 4mm, and 3mm for the ribbing.

I chose to do 1×1 ribbing for the bottom edge of the cardigan, finished off with my favourite tubular cast-off. I worked the front edge and sleeves in stocking stitch with a rolled edge.

As this is for me to wear during the summer, I didn’t mind that the edges rolled back quite a bit, and I like the way the rolled edge looks at the neckline.

Notes: I was happily knitting away on this cardigan when I read Bell’s cautionary tale about laceweight cardigans. She, and many commenters, talked about the problems they had with some laceweight yarns felting and just not being sturdy to last. I looked more closely at my knitting and realised that the yarn was indeed starting to felt a little, even before I had finished working on it.

This is most noticable on the sleeves, where I picked up the stitches that had been knit earlier. Blocking the cardigan helped, as it made the newer stitches also felt slightly, but you can still see a ridge where the two meet:

I am happy with how this cardigan turned out but, given that it started to felt before I even finished it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out not to have a particularly long shelf-life. On the plus side, it only took me four weeks to knit, so I guess I’ll just enjoy it while I can!

Photos taken here:

To celebrate our anniversary last week we spent a wonderful long weekend staying in a fairytale chateaux near Bordeaux. I couldn’t resist slipping a couple of photos into this post – if you’d like to see some more, the Flickr set is here. Not bad eh?

20 years

20 years ago…..

Today…..

Always…..

posh ruby

After what was probably for me an unprecedented 2-month knitting hiatus, I finally caught the bug again. Instrumental in this was the fact that I had signed up for Dee at Posh Yarn’s Cashmere Club last December, which means that every couple of months some delicious hand-dyed cashmere gets dropped through my letterbox. (The fact that I paid for it last year also makes me feel rather like this is free yarn – irrational, I know, but hey, if it makes me happy…)

I started this scarf at the beginning of April, just as we were about to go on holiday to Morocco for a week. I thought that the beautiful, tulip-inspired colours would match that landscape well, and I was right.

It was perfect for getting me back into knitting – a quick, easy knit with many dropped row stitches that meant the scarf grew incredibly quickly, and a nice bit of lace at each end. I am somewhat ambivalent about variegated yarn in general, but I am really happy with how this stitch pattern worked with, rather than against, the yarn.

Although I love the result, these are not really my colours, so this scarf is destined to become a gift for a deserving friend (hope she’s not reading as I haven’t given it to her yet!)

Here are the details:

Pattern: Victorian Ruby (Ravelry link) by Jane Sowerby, from Victorian Lace Today

Yarn: Posh Yarn Eva 4 ply silk/cashmere, in the colourway Tulip Time

Needles: 4.5mm

Ravelled: here

knitting!

Guess what? I’ve been knitting again… And my camera is working again… And I’ve decided enough is enough on the neglecting my blog front… And I’ve missed checking in on all my bloggy friends…

So, details to follow on these projects very soon. But for now, here’s just a little teaser…..

a little gift

If you follow Sonia’s blog, you will know that she recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Sonia and I have been bloggy friends more or less since we both started blogging, and so when I heard her news I couldn’t resist knitting up a little something for her.

Here are the details:

Bootie pattern: Little shoes, by Ysolda

Hat pattern: Vintage Pixie Cap, by Shescrafty

Yarn: Natural Dye Studio Dazzle sock yarn, edged with Rowan Kidsilk Haze

I used vintage buttons, but as I didn’t have three the same, the booties have blue buttons and the cap has a pink one.

And on the back, just for a little extra pixie fun, I added a tassle:

Now back to the cardigan – one sleeve down, one to go…