"Minetta" cardigan for 1 May

I'm so proud of this project!! I had already started the "Minetta" once before and frogged it when it was almost done because it didn't fit well. This time I used the recommended yarn ("Titus" of Baa Ram Ewe) and it turned out perfect. I guess that is one of those lessons about using the indicated yarn and measurements and not just freestyling with whatever you have in your stash.

But this time both a wonderful pattern and an amazing yarn came together and it just matches. It was easy to follow the instructions, even though it took me some time to figure out the beginning because the cable pattern only starts a bit further down. From then on it was very straight forward. I only deviated minimally from the pattern, for modifications check my Ravelry notes.

The "Titus" was a Christmas gift from a few years ago after I did a test knit for Baa Ram Ewe and I fell in love with this yarn. It is not cheap but really lovely to knit with and looking at the result totally worth it. I used just over three skeins so actually not too bad. I would definitely use it again, although I want to first wear the cardigan for a while to see how it wears and behaves over time.

After many "meh" projects this one is a total coup de coeur, I can see myself wearing it a lot. The only teeny tiny comment I have is about my own choice of colour: again a light blue. As mentioned in previous posts my resolution for future projects is to be a bit more adventurous with warmer colours.

In the pictures below you can see some lily-of-the-valley from the garden of my parents in law. In Belgium they are given out traditionally on first of May as they are called "May bells" to celebrate Labour Day. We already had them at home but nevertheless, a beautiful accessory for a beautiful 1 May.

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Pattern: "Minetta" by Kirsten Kapur, published in "Knitty", winter 2014
Yarn: "Titus" by Baa Ram Ewe, colourway "Aire"

Norwegian colourwork

This pattern has the very unromantic name of "0611-01 Pullover" but I love the colourwork. I saw Clara's version on her blog a while ago (I think this is where I get most of my inspriration from) and thought it was time to finally get working on this pattern, especially because I didn't knit any lopapeysa this winter (which has become a kind of tradition).

The yarn is hand-dyed with plant-based colours but I don't remember the name of the brand. The colour stayed really nicely and I still like the shade a lot. I realized though that almost all of the jumpers I knitted recently are in some kind of blue. I really need to re-think my colour choices! Maybe some warmer reds or yellows for my next projects.

Nothing special about this knit, maybe I should mention that the yoke is a bit too high-fitting for my taste - some modifications with short rows might have been good but I was too lazy and just followed the chart.

My Ravelry notes can be found here. 

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Pattern: "0611-01 Pullover" by Olaug Kleppe
Yarn: Finkhof Merinowolle fein (handdyed blue-green); Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted (ivory)

"Flax Light" mini stashbuster project

This was a bit of stashbuster project with the leftovers from the Brunches and Buds Pullover in my previous post and the baby blanket (which was a scarf in its previous life). As a base pattern I used the "Flax light" pattern by tincanknits which I had already had an eye on for a while.

It was very straight forward and I liked to knit it from the top down because I wasn't sure how much yarn I had left exactly. It worked out quite well even though I wish I had had more of the blue yarn to knit the sleeves in the same colour. But I think it still looks ok with the stripey cuffs.

One last thing I'm not so happy with is the collar: it is way too wide. Next time I'll go down a needle size or maybe cast on a few stitches less. But I want to try more of the tincanknits patterns and this was a good one to start with.

My ravelry notes can be found here.

 

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Pattern: "Flax Light" by tincanknits
Yarn: Leftover scraps of different merino yarns, e.g. Schachenmayr Merino 120 and similar.