Dabloon cardigan

Long time no write - time to start updating this blog... 😉

I bought this wool in February 2018 from Easyknits when they were exhibiting at Unravel in Farnham, because I loved the colour.  It then sat in my stash for a while waiting for me to settle on which pattern to use.  I knew I wanted it to be a cardigan but kept changing my mind about style.  In the end I decided I wouldn't use a pattern at all, just get it knitted!  I started it in December last year and finished it in January.

It's a very simple style - front and back knitted in one piece to the armholes, then divided for the top and seamed at the shoulders.  The button band is picked up and knitted on, the sleeves are picked up at the armholes and knitted in the round down to the cuffs.  The buttons are vintage and I already had them in my stash.

It's lovely and warm and had quite a bit of wear earlier in the year and it's now back in rotation for the winter.

Dayflower cardigan

This was the first thing I knitted this year - I took a break from knitting in January and finished this in early March.  I can't remember now where I saw this colourway (it's Madeline Tosh sock), but I know that I liked it and bought some online two years ago before the prices went up dramatically and it's sat in my stash ever since.  I decided it was high time to knit it up!

I did have some other plans for it originally, but changed my mind and so I had a look through my stitch dictionaries to find a pattern that I liked and this was what I settled on.  The stitch pattern is called drooping dayflower, and it's from The Knitter's Stitch Collection by Lesley Stanfield and Melody Griffiths (other retailers are available).  There are lots of stitch patterns in this book and I've used quite a few over the years.

It was an easy knit and I followed my usual template for cardigans which I knit without a pattern - knitted bottom-up in one piece to the armholes, create fake side seams and split for the back and fronts and work them separately.  Seam the shoulders and pick up and knit the sleeves top down.  The button band is picked up and knitted on.

The buttons are vintage although I can't remember now where I bought them.

I love this, it's a great colour for spring!

Peplum cardi

Another cardigan I can cross off this year's to-do list.  I had originally intended to knit this wool using a different pattern, which didn't have a peplum (but I wanted one so would have worked out how to add it), and then I came across this - I'm not sure how, lost in the mists of time!

My inspiration was a cardigan worn by Summer Strallen (as Nancy Morell) in the first series of Land Girls, but unfortunately I don't have a clear screenshot.

My version of the pattern has some changes - I converted it to a v-neck, which also meant changing the front to be knitted entirely in the rib pattern - I thought the shaped stocking stitch yoke might look a bit odd with a v neckline.  I also changed the button band - in the pattern it's knitted as part of the fronts and is stocking stitch which is folded back on itself.  I've done a picked-up band in the same 1 x 2 rib pattern as the upper body.  The sleeves in the pattern are stocking stitch with a folded cuff and are knitted flat, seamed and sewn in.  I kept them as stocking stitch but knitted them down from the armholes with short row sleeve caps and did ribbed cuffs.

The buttons are from stash - I've no idea where they came from.

The wool I used is Malabrigo Arroyo, which is a sport / light DK weight and lovely to knit with.  I more or less got the same stitch tension as the pattern, but my row tension was very different.  Fortunately the pattern is written as "work for x inches, then decrease, rather than work for x rows, then decrease" so the fact that my tension was off didn't matter.

I'm pleased with how this has turned out, and it's going to look good with jeans just as much as with dresses or skirts, so good and versatile.

And now I must start planning Christmas knitting...

Rust cotton DK cardigan

This is another stashbusting project - I bought this yarn back in 2011 - and have had various thoughts on what to knit with it over the years but never settled on anything.  Finally... I've knitted it.  This is just a plain, stocking stitch v-necked cardigan - the body is knitted in pieces and seamed, although with hindsight I cound just as easily have knitted it all-in-one, the sleeves are picked up and knitted top-down in the round, the button band was picked up and the buttons are vintage from The Swagman's Daughter.

I don't know whether Drops have improved the knot count of this yarn (Muskat DK 100% cotton) in the intervening years, but some of the balls I knitted with had 3 or 4 knots in them which was a pain.  I've got this yarn in one more colourway and I'll probably knit another of these cardigans with it, but I don't think I'll buy any more.

I did think I might get a dress made to go with this for the #OAL2019 challenge, but as it turned out life intervened and I didn't have time.  It does go with this dress really well though, so, result!

I can't say I enjoyed knitting this, but I am pleased with the finished item and have already worn it a couple of times. 

Agatha Christie cardigan

When I watched Agatha Christie's A Murder is Announced (with Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple) I took rather a shine to the cardigan which Keeley Hawes' character wore.  This is a particularly good knitwear story actually, I have screenshots of quite a few items I'd like to knit from both this and the Joan Hickson version.  Actually, this was in the Joan Hickson version.

I already had some yellow DK in my stash (it's Drops extra fine merino) which I'd bought some time ago with no clear plan for it other than jumper or cardigan.  I'm not sure how long I've had the pattern.

For anyone wishing to use 4-ply, this pattern is pretty similar.

The buttons are from Swagman's Daughter and the button band is skinnier than I would have preferred because I didn't have enough wool to add another two rows to it.  This cardigan used all of the 500g which I had.

I knitted this almost exactly as written except for knitting on the button band (instead of the usual vintage long strip of skinny rib which then has to be sewn on - no thanks!), making the sleeves slightly shorter, changing the slant of shaping decreases which would look better if they were left-leaning (doing ssk instead of k2tog) and dipping the neckline at the back.  It was an easy knit, there is one pattern row and then purl, knit, purl for the next three rows. 

Being DK it knitted up pretty quickly but took me a while to sew up because there were so many knots in the wool, so as well as the seaming there was rather a lot of weaving in of ends.

And here it is

I think this will get more wear in spring and autumn than summer because it's DK, but I'm very pleased to finally have got this wool knitted up!

Grasshopper cardigan - #OAL 2019

Finally... I have got this wool knitted up!!!  I've had it for at least seven years...

I used the stitch pattern from this vintage pattern,

but as you can see I did plain sleeves, a lower neckline and no collar.  The back is also plain and I knitted the body in one piece rather than separately and seamed (apart from the shoulders - they are seamed).

I bought the buttons at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival two years ago and they are a really good colour match.

I am so pleased to have got round to knitting this up - I love the colour and there hasn't been a justifiable reason for the delay (other than so many other things to knit...)

Pink Greta cardigan

I had hoped to get this finished by the end of April, but it was not to be and I did the final sewing in of ends this morning before I went to work.

I bought this yarn last year with the intention of knitting this cardigan (I rarely have such specific plans in mind when I buy wool).  I love the colour and thought it would work just as well on its own as with this top as part of a twin set - the stitch pattern is the same.

It's Eden Cottage Yarns Titus 4 - ply and is rather lovely.  I bought this from a destash, not ECY, but they have lots of lovely colours (this one is called Stonecrop and is not on their website at the moment).

The construction is my standard for knitting a cardigan without a written pattern - body in one piece up to the armholes then fronts and back are knitted separately and seamed at the shoulders.  Buttonband and neckband are picked up and knitted on, sleeves are picked up round the armholes and knitted down to the cuffs.

The buttons are vintage, I've had them for a while though so I can't remember where I bought them.

I'm really pleased with how this has turned out - here it is on its own,

and here it is photographed with the top linked to at the beginning of this post.

I hope to get lots of wear out of this one.

Joshua Tree cardigan

I wasn't sure whether I'd get this finished this year, but I finished the second sleeve last night and so it's in under the wire for 2018.  I bought the wool this year, so it's not a stashbusting project - I don't often buy wool with an immediate project in mind, but this was one of those times.

Standard construction for cardigans I knit without using a pattern - first pick a stitch pattern -  in this case two - the cable pattern is from the first Barbara Walker Treasury and is called Reverse Plait cable, or Branch cable. It’s easy to work, and is the second time I’ve used it (the first time was on an aran-weight cardigan I knitted in pre-blogging days).  The eyelet pattern is the column lace from the Honeybee pattern, (and is also in Barbara Walker’s second Treasury - called Honeybee Pattern with Faggoting).

The body is knitted in one piece up to the armholes then separated for fronts and back (at which point I make fake side seams), shoulders are seamed and sleeves picked up and knitted top down.  The button band is knitted on and I did seven three-stitch one-row buttonholes.  The buttons are vintage from my stash - I can't remember where I bought them though.

Knitted with Madelinetosh Sock yarn (one of my favourites, but has become very expensive so I only ever buy it when it's on sale now).  This wasn't an easy colour to photograph - it's definitely more of a yellow-green than blue-green, and I love it.

Merlot cardigan

I had originally earmarked this yarn for a different project (photos five and six in this post), but having done a sample swatch of the stitch pattern decided that I'd prefer to use wool (this is an alpaca/silk blend) for that design idea.  It hasn't left the starting blocks yet, but I'm hoping I'll get it knitted next year.

So... I decided to knit this up in a simple design, which is all stocking stitch, and added stripes to the ribbing.  It didn't take long to knit and is very soft and warm.  The buttons I'd originally planned to use, which looked fine when the yarn was skeined, didn't really 'go' once it was knitted, so I had a root around my button stash for some different ones - in the end I went with the ones on the left.

And here's the finished item

Ember cardigan

This cardigan was inspired by a photo posted on Emmydesign Sweden's Instagram account - I loved the colour combinations - there are currently more photos on their website here (Autumn/Winter 2018).

Photo screencapped from EmmyDesign Sweden's Instagram account

This was my first time knitting with this wool (Cascade 220 Fingering) and I bought it specifically for this project (I already have quite a bit stashed for future fairisle projects though).  I knew I wanted to put some cables in, but not across the whole of the cardigan otherwise it would have taken me too long to knit - I wanted to wear it this year!

I bought the buttons from Birmingham indoor market during this year's SewBrum trip.

I'm really pleased with how it's turned out - I'm actually wearing it as I write this post and it goes really well with my mustard denim skirt.

Judy in Disguise cardigan

I'd been wanting to knit an interpretation of Laura Chau's Lucy in the Sky pattern for quite some time (aka years) however, it's written for aran wool, which is thicker than I prefer to knit with.  (I've just checked, only 10% of my 80 most recent projects have been with aran, the rest have all been with thinner wool.)  So the plan had been waiting patiently in the wings until I found sufficient impetus to get on with working out the sums for a 4-ply version.

And this is it. The name is from a 1967 song Judy in Disguise (with glasses) which is a mondegreen of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles, and the stitch pattern is called Diamond Brocade and is from Barbara Walker’s First Treasury book.

I bought the buttons at Edinburgh Yarn Festival a couple of years ago with no thought of what I would do with them - I just liked them.  Fortuitously they are a great match for all the colours in this dress!

The wool I used (Fyberspates Vivacious 4-ply in Copper Tones colourway) turned my fingers grey as I knitted with it, and the cardigan felt a bit ‘greasy’ as I was knitting.  I put it in the washing machine on a wool wash with a couple of colour catcher sheets once it was finished, and it’s been fine ever since - no greasy feel, and no dye transfer - result!

Harebell cardigan

I started knitting this in March, but didn't finish it until the end of July, and that was really just to get the thing finished, not because I was wanting to wear it.  March / April is an ideal time of year for a pale blue woolly cardi, July in a heatwave definitely isn't!  Consequently I haven't worn this yet, but I will next Spring.

I didn't use a pattern, other than my standard 'recipe' for 4-ply cardigans - waistline ribbing and body up to the armholes in one piece, fake side seams, split for fronts and back and work them separately, short-row seamed shoulders, knitted on button and neck bands, one-row buttonholes and top down sleeves.  The stitch pattern on the fronts is called Harebell (who'd've thought it?) and I forget which of my stitch dictionaries it came from. 

The buttons are vintage and came from The Swagman's Daughter - a veritable Aladdin's Cave.

Now waiting for Spring for this to get worn!

#OAL2018 Pink Cardigan

Now for some knitting.  I'd had this cardigan pattern for a while and decided that now (well, back in June) was the time to knit it.  I don't think I'm often influenced by the colours used by pattern companies to illustrate their designs when I decide which wool to use, except perhaps for the Penelope cardigan, but I'm pretty sure I'd had this wool in my stash since before I bought the pattern, so maybe the pattern just gave me an idea of how it might look when knitted up.

Hayfield 960

I didn't actually follow the pattern directions really, just the stitch pattern.  And now I come to think of it, I don't think the pattern directions provided for the fronts to be mirrored, so I offset one side so that they would be.  My tension didn't match, I knitted the body in one piece up to the armholes, did fake side seams, lowered the front neckline, did short row shoulders, a plain back, and plain, top down sleeves.  The buttonband and neckband are picked up and knitted on. 

Shown with an rtw dress which I bought in Paris in May

The buttons I think I bought locally.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out, it's a very happy colour.

Penelope cardigan

I don't remember where I came across this cardigan pattern, but as soon as I did, I knew I wanted to knit it.

As it turned out I made quite a few changes from the pattern, the most obvious of which I suppose is that I ran the pattern up the front next to the button band, not in a straight line.  I also changed the pattern.  The smocking part is the same, but I changed the eyelet columns to be stocking stitch, not reverse stocking stitch.  Actually, I did that for the whole cardigan - the pattern as written has reverse stocking stitch for the right side and I prefer that to be the wrong side.  I also didn't do any patterning on the back or the sleeves, they're just plain stocking stitch.

In terms of construction, I knitted the body in one piece up to the armholes, then did fake side seams and split for the fronts and back.  The shoulders are done with short rows and seamed, and the button band was picked up and knitted on.  I don't know why I did it in 1 x 1 rib when the waist and cuffs are 2 x 2, suffice to say that I didn't notice until I was half way down the first sleeve and had already made the buttonholes (one-row 2-stitch) and sewn the buttons on.  I wasn't going to undo all that.  The sleeves are picked up round the armholes and shaped with short rows and knitted top down.

I used Malabrigo sock yarn in the Water Green colourway to knit this, and I have no idea where the buttons came from (they were in my stash but I can't remember where I bought them).  I'm really pleased with it, even though it doesn't really look much like the pattern photo!

Spring is (not) in the air

Or at least it wasn't when I wrote this post.  Now that I've uploaded the photos though the sun has come out at last and it's actually quite warm!

I first saw this pattern knitted up by Lucy and decided I'd like to knit it.  However, it is one of the few vintage patterns that I have which is too big for me as written - size 38" - 40" bust, most vintage patterns being in the 32" - 36" size range.  (Although perhaps more accurately most patterns that seem to be readily available on the internet, rather than most patterns ever written.)  So some adjusting of numbers was required.

You will see that my version doesn't look much like Lucy's, or the picture on the pattern itself.

This is because I found the fancy ribbing quite time consuming to knit, and I knitted the body on 2.5mm needles, so the stocking stitch wasn't exactly quick either!  I decided to forego the fancy ribbing at the top of the yoke - ultimately what I wanted was a green cardigan to wear sooner rather than later, not a faithful vintage reproduction garment.

Fancy ribbing

I used Wollmeise lace in the Petersilie colourway which I've had in my stash for a while.  I absolutely love the colour and it was lovely wool to knit with.  It's the perfect yarn for a lightweight cardigan and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.

Other changes from the pattern - I didn't knit the pockets - I might well knit pockets on a longer line, relaxed fit cardigan, but I didn't think I would ever use them in a waist-length fitted cardigan. I also did top down sleeves, knitted the body in one piece up to the armholes and did short-row shoulders.  I also did a picked up and knitted on button band rather than a narrow strip to be sewn on - I don't really have the patience to knit these types of button bands...  I made twelve 3-stitch one-row buttonholes (another change from the pattern) simply because I had twelve buttons.  I don't think I'm ever going to do them all up though.  The buttons are glass and I bought them at a Hammersmith Vintage Fair last year, or maybe the year before.  I bought them on spec hoping they'd go with this wool... Aaand I've just noticed that they're in the header photo at the top of this blog, still on their card!

Vintage glass buttons

I've already worn this a few times and am so pleased that I finally got around to knitting it.  I think it's going to get quite a lot of wear.

Ultramarine cardigan

This cardigan is knitted with the last of the Fyberspates Scrumptious 4-ply in my stash and it's a lovely deep, rich, purple (the shade colour is Ultramarine).  I started it in January and finished it in February.

The ribbing is 1 x 1, I used the stitch pattern from Baile, a pattern I've already used for this cardigan (and which I have subsequently found in my Second Barbara G Walker Treasury - the twin leaf panel and fancy shell rib look very similar, if not actually the same), and there is some shaping at the sides.  I decided to do a v-neck, it was knitted in one piece up to the armholes, with fake side seams and seamed, short-row shoulders.  The sleeves are knitted top-down and I worked eight two-stitch, one-row buttonholes.  So pretty much standard shaping and construction for me really.

The buttons were from Textile Garden, my supplier of choice for modern buttons.  I think I bought them when they were exhibiting at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival last year and with a different project in mind, although I don't now remember what... (initially I was going to put red buttons on this cardi), and they're a great match colourwise.

I'm very pleased with how it's turned out and I can see it getting quite a lot of wear all year round as it goes with both winter and summer clothes.

Love Potion cardigan

Here is my first finish of 2018...

I have had this pattern for a few years now, I think I bought it when it was first published and it's been waiting patiently for me to get around to knitting it.

In all my years of knitting this is the first thing I've knitted top down.  I'm not wild about it as a construction method in the way that some knitters seem to be, but maybe that's because it's new to me.  I can't see me ever trying to convert bottom-up patterns to knit them top down though, although I may well try and do the opposite!

It was also the first time I used German short-row shaping - this I'll definitely do again.  I followed this little vid on YouTube to teach me how to do them - very straightforward.

I used Drops Merino Extra Fine wool, which is lovely and soft to knit with (although, like their baby merino, is a bit splitty if you need to unpick and reknit) and the cardigan is very warm to wear.  I wasn't sure whether I'd have enough of the mustard to knit the whole thing in one colour, so I decided to do the buttonbands and collar in grey (which I had left over from the winter Breton jumper I knitted for my daughter).

Now, the back neckline, I don't know why the collar sits like this rather than fully covering the part where it joins the back - maybe it's the shape of my shoulders?

I've spotted that it also sits like this on a couple of other projects made with this pattern (possibly more, people don't always take photos of the backs of their garments).  It wouldn't be so noticeable if I'd knitted the collar in the same colour as the body of the cardigan though.  I have no idea how to change the pattern to stop this from happening, and I'm certainly not going to unpick it and try!

I bought the buttons from Textile Garden - I used 8, although I don't think I'll be buttoning up the top two because it pulls the collar in too much towards the centre front.

I don't know why the pattern has the buttonholes on the left - maybe in Switzerland there isn't the differentiation between men's jackets and cardigans buttoning left over right and women's right over left (the pattern designer is based in Switzerland)?  Anyway, I put the buttonholes on the right-hand side and did one-row 3-stitch buttonholes.

Being knitted with DK this didn't take very long to make and, apart from the way the collar sits - which I can live with because I can't see it, I'm pleased with it and have worn it a few times since I finished it.  It's a bit of a departure from the waist-length fitted style of cardigan that I usually knit, but good for wearing with jeans in the winter!

Knitting plans for 2018

Before I write about next year's plans I thought I'd have a look back at previous years' future plans just to see how they panned out.

From my autumn 2014 to-do list there are a few things outstanding - the Purl Alpaca Icon dress, which will have to wait until at least autumn 2018 now unless we have a freezing cold January and February, a green cardigan using madelinetosh sock in Grasshopper colourway, which I might get done next year, and a Love Potion cardigan which I've already started knitting (although not with any of the wool I thought I might use back in 2014).

From the ten items on my 2016 knitting wish list, so far I have knitted four...  And from this year's list, which I didn't write until April, I've knitted two pink cardigans.  I did a tension square with the Kate Davies Buachaille wool, because I really wanted to knit that up, but my row gauge was off and so I put it to one side awaiting the mental capacity to either adapt the patterns to my actual gauge, or knit a couple more tension squares with smaller needles to see if that would work without making the knitted fabric too stiff.  I haven't done either yet.

So... plans for 2018

Finish the Love Potion cardigan which I'm knitting with mustard colour Drops Merino Extra Fine.  There will be grey trim - how much will depend on how long I decide I want the cardigan to be and therefore when the mustard runs out!

Finish the top I started with such enthusiasm back in October for a KAL being run by killerkitsch design.

I love the pattern and joined the KAL because it was extended to the end of December which I thought would give me enough time to knit it.  But no.  Other knitting intervened and I have made very little progress.

I'd also like to knit this cardigan with some dark blue Malabrigo Arroyo I have in my stash.

I'd originally thought I'd use a different pattern for this wool, but it's for finer yarn and this pattern shouldn't give me any (or not too many) tension issues.  Not sure I'll have enough wool though so it may end up being v-necked.

I'd also like to knit this yarn up, it's the last of the Scrumptious 4-ply in my stash and is lovely to knit with.

Also, the Pantone colour of the year for next year is Ultraviolet (this colourway is called ultramarine), so I'll be nodding in the direction of a fashion statement with this one.

Next, a cardigan using the parasol stitch from one of my stitch dictionaries.

Theodora has knitted a gorgeous cardigan using this stitch - I'm not sure whether it's on her blog, but it does have a Ravelry project page.  Having done a small tension square (rectangle) with some Artesano alpaca silk 4-ply I'm not absolutely sure I'll use this yarn for this design yet, I think I need to knit a couple more pattern repeats before coming to a final decision.

It might look better knitted with wool which gives more stitch definition.

I also want to knit a 4-ply version of Lucy in the Sky with some brown Fyberspates wool, however, I'm not sure that I'll knit it before autumn because for me, brown is not a colour I am likely to wear in spring or summer.  And again this will also need swatching and sums.

I'm also going to put in a couple of other vintage patterns at this point.  The one below will be a stash busting project, either with Malabrigo sock, or Koigu sock, although I'll change the sleeves so that they don't have pointy shoulders.

And this one which I'll knit with green Wollmeise lace and which will need some alteration to make it smaller.

I think that's enough to be going on with for now!