Happy

Gabriela is finished, finally. And I am happy, it is a real good fit and goes well with loads of different clothes. S is happy as well, well not so much showing in the project photos but not on film she is…. It is exactly the kind of thing she likes to wear these days, and it really did make some interesting knitting.  Now it is packed away as we are leaving on holidays tomorrow. Last year we basically didn't do a summer holiday, the year before we were in Madrid but that was  because of combining work & some kind of holiday, the year before that we did family visits… so somehow we felt that going away for a real vacation was the right thing to do this year. We were lucky since we found some cheap tickets and I did some extra work (another reason why I don't post that much these days), so we are going far away and for a splash…. I feel somewhat decadent to write this but we will go to Japan on Tuesday… Looking really forward to it too….

 

And that big cat, he is almost always happy. As cats go, he is not the brightest of them (in fat he seems to have some wiring loose), but he is oh so happy and he loves to be carried. And really who can resist that….. And he loves the woman who will look after him and the others while we are away… which is a relief too…. to have that bit in reliable hands….

Buttons, buttons

 

Very slowly I have been knitting Gabriela the last month. I don't know why certain projects take so much time, but this one sure did. It might be  the 4-ply cotton, the small cables or the lace ladders that did it, or just everything added up…. But now I can seam, and make a choice about buttons. I have a nice stash of buttons and mu choice if as follows:

 

Small metal buttons with some black patterning., white shank buttons with a triangular pattern or grey shiny shank buttons….

 

I do like in general shank buttons as I think they can be so very neat. They also have this vintage feel to them. However in this case, I do think the metal buttons will be it, they are just too cute….

From winter to summer in 2 weeks

We had a long long winter that never seemed to stop, but finally from the first of May we have had finally a spell of nice weather which also means that I really started with summer knitting again. Meris was an in-between project, for spring days that are still a bit "chilly", but like so often here winter goes over in summer in two weeks time. Last week we could enjoy (as shown above) outside dinners till late in the evening. I think it was real nice, but it is also a bit strange, since until the first week of May, everything was late. Now two weeks later,the Lilacs are flowering and that is early…. But now the prospects are not that good again, so things may go back to normal.

 

In any case knit wise, here is Cheeky:

So my first summer project is Cheeky from the new Kim Hargreaves book Spirit. This is a very easy knit, but clever too. The yarn is Rowan Panama in a cool yellow colour. This yarn is a mixture of rayon, cotton and linen in a chainette construction. It gives this terrific fabric with loads of drape and it is slightly slubby so there is lots of texture too. Optimal for plain stockinette knitting . I bought this yarn already more than a year ago, but Cheeky was really a good project for this yarn. It was quick knitting, but due to the fact that I didn't really have time to sit down and seam it, it had to wait through the warm days to get completely ready. And then it rained….and rained…. so a lousy photo from inside the house:

Otherwise, the Spirit book contains loads of nice items and I will come back to it after my next project.

Which is based on another Kim Hargreaves pattern, this time from Whisper, Gabriela. S likes small cropped cardigans and an in-between one for summer evenings was much desired. I have some 4-ply cotton stashed, so we looked through some patterns and this one was a "good one" according to her. It is slower knitting as there are cables and some yarn-overs but it is fun too. The needle size is again on the smaller side, but that is fine for summer clothes.

 

Meris finished….

 

It took me almost a month to knit this one, but it was worth it! And it is ready on the first day that I can go out with bare legs….

 

Sometimes life is just good…..

Slowly now

 

I'm working right now on a project that requires a bit of attention. Combined with other duties, it mens I have been going slow the last couple of weeks. Nothing bad about that, just how it is sometimes… 

In any case I am knitting Meris at the moment, a nice flattering cardigan with very nice lace panels. It is fingering yarn knitted on 3.25, so a lot of rows and for one reason or another I just couldn't memorise the lace repeats. So every other row I had to check the pattern and that slows me down. But it is worth it…. I have now finished the main body. The sleeves are top-down with short rows and only a lace motif at the cuffs so maybe I can speed up a bit…. I want to wear this cardigan…..

Has to have a cowl

 

or actually better said: It should be red and have a turtleneck...

That was the request I got from S. A simple sweater can be so nice sometimes, especially with a nice yarn. This is 80/10/10 worsted from Madelinetosh. Very soft and nice colours with that blackish haze that only Madelinetosh has. Love it. The sweater itself is knitted into the round until the sleeves, then it is divided and knitted flat to the shoulders. The shoulders have the only seam, since I picked up the stitches for the sleeves and knitted those top down using short rows for the  sleeve cap shaping. That worked really well, so surely something to use again. 

S says it is her warmest sweater…..

I was afraid that I didn't have yarn enough so I made it into a cropped sweater, and as things sometimes go, I think we are very lucky that the sweater is cropped, I took the photo before I made it wet for laying out, and yes, this yarn grows….I think it does so in length so we are good, but for a next time I do know, be aware…. 

Spring?

 

This is how it looks in my garden today….. and the prognosis for the coming week is not much better. Cold and cold again, with sometimes bitter winds. 

But luckily there are also some signs of spring a well…. and we are in "summertime" now….