Mysa

A couple of year sago I bought a nice laying black cardigan to wrap myself up in. Sometime during the fall, S asked whether she could borrow it for a day, and quite quickly after that she was wearing as often as she could put her hands on it. So it wasn’t a huge surprise when the request came whether I could make a black long cardigan for her, it should have no buttons, not be a waterfall type of cardigan, warm and soft and please could it be finished already...

So ok, I had a look around and no pattern really appealed to S, at the same time I got kind of interested into knitting the borders simultaneous with a sweater even around the neckline and I wanted to experiment with that. As the wished for garment would be a long cardigan, I really didn’t look forward into picking up and knitting around the fronts, so knitting the borders simultaneous seems really fitting for this item. So it was clear that the cardigan would be an own design. To make it a bit more interesting than only a normal rib border,I once again use a drop stitch pattern.

So how is this construction, you start by a provisional cast-on and then knit the border from the bak of the neck to the point that the fronts would start. Then unravel the cast-on and knit into the other direction to the same point. Then it is picking up stitches and starting a raglan top down. I hasn’t been tried on, but it looks quite nice (I am just under the sleeves now) and indeed the drop stitches make it a bit more interesting knitting than just stockinette. Yarn is Ultra Alpaca by Berroco, a 50-50% wool alpaca blend. It feels really like a nice yarn, soft and drape-y but a with a bit of substance from the wool. I think it works well with this kind of cardigan!

It will have pockets, this is a cardigan meant for pocket….

The other problem with black, photographs really really bad, but black was required…..

And yes I have been in dropped stitch territory for quite a bit now, just finished the Cupido Cowl earlier this week, a different drop stitch, a different soft item but also one to “mysa” in...

 

Small New Pattern

 

Someone asked me whether I could maybe show the pattern for the slipped tweed stitch scarf that I made last autumn. Originally I didn’t really plan to do so, but when I thought about it a bit more, I felt it wouldn’t be much work and why not. So today I put a free pattern on Revelry for this scarf. It is a cushy, warm scarf, and even though it is pretty long, in bulky yarn it is still a relative fast project.

 

I have to say, that I am really impressed with the yarn itself, Fased Tweed from Rowan. Soft, nice colours, very light due to its special construction and no pilling yet, and this scarf has been worn now every day since I finished it, either by S or by me...

To download the pattern, click download now and you will get it!

Storm and Rain

 

As someone from the flat countries, I have to admit, I do like a good storm. Mind you, I know the destruction that comes with it, but as a fervent sailor in my youth, I think the sheer power of wind is something to admire. I also think that just the words “it was a cold and stormy night” are something to behold and of course Sinterklaas comes on stormy nights as well (Hoor de wind waait door de bomen….) . So yes this time of year, one good storm can be a good thing, to sit at home, have a nice fire going and some comfort food to eat...

But the last two years, storms come a bit too often. Every two weeks there seems to be a storm, this it is foreseen to have three in one week. And it is just not the wind alone, it is the rain and it is the layers and layers of clouds that make it dark and darker. We had a white Christmas and some gorgeous winter days after, which came as a huge surprise and lifted the spirits a lot, but then back to storm and rain and darkness….

But it also makes sure that knitwear is worn, as even inside, the wind howls through (at work or at home). So the newly knitted sweater for my husband will get its due! Which is good, as a men’s sweater is more knitting than a child’s or women’s sweater . Not that my husband is not knit-worthy, he does wear his knits….but a heavy winter’s one needs some appropriate weather or ?

The yarn comes from a lovely place, New Lanark . A real nice place to visit whenever in Scotland. My husband is from near there and his family lives in the area, so when we were there at halloween, we went there and I bought some nice rusty honest wool for a sweater for him. The promise was that it would be made before Christmas, but that was not possible, but I started it before Christmas and could knit it within the holiday period.I got the yarn on a big cone, so not really an item to transport around, so it was good to knit it in this period. Nice thing about the knitting from a cone, not many ends to weave in at the end….

The design is one of my own, with saddle shoulders, picked-up stitches and knitted down, with set-in sleeves. Columns of garter stitch at the sides . I am pleased with it…… It was pretty straight-forward knitting, good project for watching TV...

Just one picture of the progress, that shows the pattern better….