Summer Dawn or my little La Fosca Cardigan

Here is my Summer Dawn . It was almost all knitted up or rather down in  Spain and only the last two inches of the sleeves were knitted at home. It took me less than 2 skeins of 4 ply, 100 grams each to knit this. I have in my stash quite a few pairs of sock yarn from various clubs so to knit an elbow length sleeved cardigan is a wonderful way to use those.
The yarn is truly magnificent, Dear Viola please take a break from your Sabbatical, you were gone too long and we all miss you terribly :)  I saw it in Loop, London few years ago in this Sample and fell in love . The colour called Sea storm- blue, teal, green and gold- beautiful !

 
 
 

I was literally enjoying every minute of it. The lace at the back very easy to memorise and I love how it spills just a little bit at the fronts. Look at that shoulder seam detail, and the way the sleeves just happen to grow from it.

Got the buttons in a little haberdashery shop in Palomos. There's some tiny writings in the brass in the brass which says 'butter nature'- who cares , the brass goes nicely with those gold spots..

The sunshine brings out the green tones - its actually bluer than that.

Am really pleased with this one , so wearable .. and did I mention the colour?  ;-))
Knit on !!

Hola from La fosca, Spain !

Long sands !

Finally we all have had here couple of weeks of blazing sun. Summer arrived with full force. Some of you in the south may have encountered an odd lady knitting with a chunky alpaca on Poole sandbanks beach. She looked as if she was enjoying herself immensely and every so often her knitting was thrown to the side whilst she hurried up to baste herself with some sea water..

So in the hottest days of year a chunky cardigan was born. It was really a quick knit and pure love because only love could make me handle this beautiful chain like Rowan chunky alpaca in the scorching heat. The one Saturday early morning that rained and the weather slightly cooled down I was able to wear it for the photo shoot without melting down..

 

The summer sale in John Lewis department store coincided more or less with the publication of Long Sands. My squishy balls went down by 50 %- just perfect, I bought 9 but used less than 7.

 

 

Its a really simple knit and Amy plays with bands of purls and knit stitches. Its about texture and the layout of the cardigan. I love the way the fronts meet up at the back of the neck . Its cosy and warm for autumn, something you can just slip quickly and go and still radiant luxury. Amy Christoffers is a one to stalk ;-) I just love her style.

The cuffs first felt too tight but I blocked the two sleeves with long wires and stretched them slightly, they are perfect fit now. Also don't graft the the fronts together at mid back neck point until you sewn  front extensions to the back neck. Than you can add or take away a row or two for a perfect fit.

Tommorow I'm on a flight to Spain and my travel project is packed -viola yarn with some lovely ebony needles to go with for the flight. From past experience I dont expect to find good yarn but hey I've got stash beyond life expectancy.. happy knitting !

 

Germinate !

Here is my Germinate ! Its actually was finished three weeks ago but I wanted a different background for this beautiful vibrant shawl. So on this Saturday early morning I walked up the village with my reluctant daughter, totally overdressed, to this beautiful large rustic teal door . A few new forest ponies glared suspiciously at me but other than that the photo shoot went well.
My husband says I look Spanish in those photos.. :-D

 

Thyone !

 

I had an excellent week with three FO's. Already blogged about Reverb and now posting  my version of Thyone. Visually it is very appealing and I think it works well with a bright dominant colour on the shoulders and cuffs , less so on the bottom hem as it shortens the upper body.

So instead of ribbing in fuchsia I've continued downwards with the grey and just added two cute little pockets and the pink just peeping through. I love finding new constructions and it was a joy starting the collar and shoulders on this one. If you purchased the pattern you know what I mean.. Just be warned that with this type of construction you are well off with a slight negative east on the shoulders width to avoid  puckered  shoulders points. I used merino silk singles from Hedgehog fibres in Petrol (the grey ) and Poison (fuchsia). The dye is amazing but no more single ply purchases for me- the yarn is going fuzzy as you knit which is disappointing to say the least. The buttons are great find from an Israeli Etsy seller- mother of pearl in smoky grey - perfecto !

Those photos were taken my birthday ... :-))

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reverb !

After all my ranting I have to admit that after wet blocking with fabric conditioner, the yarn has transformed and blossomed into a decent velvety tweedy fabric. It actually feels very nice indeed.
I was not sure with the colour at first but now its really grown into me- summer-y and bright..
I had a struggle with the buttons- I bought expensive ceramic from the states and  a set of fancy painted wooden buttons only to settle for some cheap and nasty plastic buttons from John Lewis department store. I think they suit this cardi rather well.
I'm a bit aware of the collar but maybe it is just fussy me ..
All in all a great day to day cardigan :-)

 

Through the loops -Mystery shawl clue 2

 

Word of warning - spoiler photos below !!

Kirstin Kapur from Through the loops is a fantastic shawl designer.
I did not hesitate to join her latest mystery shawl KAL.
The shawl called for three co-ordinated colours . Heavy variegation was not recommended.
I spent some time with my stash and at last chose three sock yarns. I've looked at the ravelry forum and noticed a lot of bold block colours which gave dramatic effects. I made a decision to have my shawl more subtle. The yarns have some variegation in them so the stripes are less defined . The colours are mingling with each other. I love the way it looks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 I used two sock yarn from malabrigo for the stripes section. The one with the acid green ,'turner',is a left over from my oak  shawlette. The other malabrigo 'eggplant' has a dull tones of dark purple and is a nice background for those acid greens. The sock yarn used for the lace is more twisted and shiny- sokkusu 'man of rock' from socktopus. It has soft pale tones of lilac, purple ,green and even pink. At the moment it is not available .I was just reading in her blog that first there wont be anymore London knit-nation events in the foreseeable future - a real shame as it was a success, and secondly the Sokkusu yarn will be produced by her business partner later on this year. I'm going to watch that space!