Devonshire !

Finally got to blog about Devonshire , it was raining almost solid for three weeks so could not get it photographed.  The designer is Pam Powers and you can get the pattern here.

I used Skein queen 'blush'- red riding hood a beautiful variegated warm and cold reds with dark strokes in a sports weight in a luxurious blend of cashmere and merino. The yarn is so soft you can wear it next to the skin. I was too lazy to knit this cardigan with alternating rows of two different skeins so there is a bit of light red pooling on the right front. The pattern calls for a dk weight but the difference in chest sizes between XS and S (78 cm, 91.5 cm !! ) are too great so I chose the small version with a thinner yarn hence the sport weight of 'blush'.

There are striking lace pannels on the two fronts and the back. I suppose if I chose solid color the lace would show to a better effect but I'm happy with the results.

One thing that I learn when picking up stitches for a continous band along the front edge up , around the back neck and down again is to be wary of the v neck points. Do pick up extra stitches  (I added 3 stitches ) on those points otherwise you're risking an unruly bands.

 

Yarning in Ibiza !

We had a cheap break in Ibiza. We were early enough in the season not to encounter the dreaded clubbists so the break was peaceful with quite enough days of sunshine. We rented a modest flat in San Antonio, five minutes from the beach so our days were filled out with plenty of walks along the beach, pass all the cafes , going out and filling our bellies with sea food. Plenty of time near the pool and the sea, watching perfect sunsets, you get my drift.

 

For my holiday knitting I took an on going project- a lovely pattern - Devonshire which was published in the twist collective spring summer 2011. I was tempted to start a new project but felt sorry for Devonshire , for some reason its been dragging a bit as I've started and finished two shawls in between. The sand and sea shawl and my Erato in which I did manage to type a blogpost.

This is the first sleeve of devonshire. The back and fronts are done and are currently swimming in a nice warm bath as I type, preparing for a nice stretch on the blocking board. The yarn, blush in sport weight was bought from skein queen and is very nice indeed to work with.

My family found one yarn shop in San Antonio and happily came running to announce the find- they know me so well :-) I made one glance and did not even bother going in. Yes - full of squeaky (acrylic )yarn..

On Saturday I noticed a market  close to the sea , near one of the big fountains, and what a joy to see. Lots of stalls demonstrating hand crafting;

I stood by three elderly ladies in traditional dresses and watched their spinning. I saw one of the ladies had in her basket a finished small skein , approx 20 grams. I asked the lady how much that is. She grinned at me with a toothless smile and a 'enty euros' came out of her mouth . She meant twenty. I thought I looked very much like a tourist that day..