Try it on…..

 

A very big advantage of knitting from the top down is of course that it can be tried on…. This is an Olearia in Cascade Ultra-Pima "spearmint" and when I started it, I wasn't sure whether I would do the gathers all the way down, or just in the top… When I had the yoke done and had to make the decision it was a moment of try it on and see…. So M and I decided that the main body would be plain stockinette to contrast the yoke. Also only buttons in the top and a bit more A-line for the body, so I added 6 increase rows in the main body to achieve that. It is going quick….long hot days and easy pickings…..

We did watch the OS opening last night and yes, brilliant and bonkers are the appropriate words, I liked it a lot and laughed a good deal too, something I really had not expected. I'm not terribly fond of these kind of events but the rumour that it would contain sheep in the rain was enough bait for us to watch it. And we were not disappointed, the sheep were there and this was just irreverent enough to love it!

 

Sleek

 

Some things are so simple and yet so nice. I just knitted Petrie and really there is nothing more then hemmed edges, stockinette and increases and yet the result is just sleek. Simplicity can be just it for a nice summer top. It is classy, highly wearable and summery. great pattern, I might even make another one, one day!

I used Berroco Pure Pima in a charcoal colour and this is a real nice cotton. It has a very slight stretch or give which makes it very nice to knit with. There is a slight sheen to it too, so that gives it some understated chic as well. Today is actually a real warm day and it feels really nice to wear this. The only slight negative is that one has to knit with a bit care not too split the yarn, but really it wasn't bad and it knitted up very very quick.  

Finally Summer

Genius

 

I finished my Carrie today and I am so happy with it. It is just perfect and that remind me about the genius of Kim Hargreaves. Her way with the details, the small touches is just so great. Yes the instructions are sometimes not straight-forward but a little bit of figuring it out and one is awarded with timeless items that can be worn and worn again. She is by far my most favourite designer to whom I go back time after time.  I also love the fact that she is very good with the finer yarns, so many 4-ply designs that are just right…. 

 

This is just a little cardigan, perfect to go with a dress or a skirt (yes I wear almost only dresses and skirts, even though I am a scientist working at a mainly physics lab….). The textures are just right, not too much but pleasing and it was a joy to knit.

 

 

Some words about the yarn. I didn't use the fine milk cotton that was used in the pattern. I really wasn't sure about that yarn and the colours were a bit too pastel. Then earlier this year Rowan came out with a wool-cotton 4-ply version and there was this lovely red. I did knit a couple of times with the "DK" version of wool-cotton and I really liked that yarn. So I was naturally curious about the 4-ply version…. I guessed I could use it for this design, but I also knew I had to tweak slightly. The gauge is just slightly different, so I knitted this on slightly larger needles (2.75 & 3 mm instead of 2.25 & 2.75mm) and I knitted the XS version with lengths from the S version. The yarn requires a bit of attention since it is slightly splitty, but the stitch definition is great and it really works well. Now only if there could be more "bright" colours….

 

Anyway I am happy…..

 

Seaming

 

Even though I am really fed up with rain and more rain, it is good weather to do seaming….. 

 

ps. It was really not a nice day, but it was worth it, now only the collar and nice buttons:

Texture

I am so fortunate to be off work for some weeks. Well not completely since I do have some reading job to do, but that I can do at home…. After a lot of going back and fro we also decided to stay home this year for the summer and there are no major home improvement jobs to be done either. So we go on day trips and garden and knit…. So I decided to go off plain stockinette (which I do love) or garter stitch and knit some serious texture…. In this case Carrie by Kim Hargreaves. This was my favorite pattern from the Misty book, but I wasn't so sure about the yarn (fine milk-cotton), so it came into my queue and stayed there. Until earlier this year when I discovered that Rowan had made one of my favourite yarns into a 4-ply version: Wool Cotton. Wool Cotton is just perfect for stitch work, it really makes the stitches shine. It is lovely to knit with and it also is a real good "not too cold, not too warm" yarn. And this summer being what it is (not a stable warm one, but a "grab the nice day when it comes by" one) it is good to have that kind of cardigans around. The colour is "rich" a lovely red, difficult to photograph though….

Yesterday was one of those days that you just have to grab, lovely warm and sunny, so we went to Wanås. This is a "castle" with a big sculpture park around it. The sculptures are from a real varied set of artists (from Yoko Ono to Robert Wilson and many more) and the setting is gorgeous. Just some impressions:

I also finished one other small textured garment: a Ramono Racerback tank for M. Nice for the real warm days, in Allino a cotton-linen combination. Now I just hope that the summer will turn around and become stable and warm….