Presenting the Jacket

I spent the last couple of days sawing. Never rush sawing ..You need to be patient and attentive to details... Then happiness arrives and you got a garment to be proud of. It took 9 balls of rowan 4 ply soft in 'leafy' for the extra small size.The pattern is very textured and give the jacket its stability. I knitted pockets for the first time and shaped a somewhat fancy collar. very pleased with the results and got few compliments today from my border southampton knitting group.

and the back:

Wild Apple

Not so long ago I bought 'poems of color' knitting in the bohus tradition by Wendy Keeley. Its a lovely book with lots of traditional examples of the bohus style. The garments are lively colored on stockinette stitch background with interspersed purl stitches for texture. Fair Isle garments have just two colors per row and utilize steeks. In the bohus stickning patterns ,there could be any number of colors in a row, and steeks are not been used.



Kerstin Olsson is a bohus stickning designer and is one of my favourites. I have ordered her 'the wild Apple ' kit from Solveig Gustafsson in Sweden. she is a clever dyer and produces the original colors for the official patterns.http://www.solsilke.se/



Here is what my postman delivered yesterday. I'm so glad my two border collies did not get the parcel first . would have been a really expensive disaster.




The yarns are in a superb quality and hence the price. Its a blend of angora and merino, %50 each. realy soft but not 'mohairy'.There is enough to knit an extra large cardigan so I'm sure I will manage a hat or two with the remains.

this is a version done by the , http://theraineysisters.com/

Now will have to be careful with the gauge, I knit the colored bit slightly tighter than the plain stockinette. Have to be strong though, still half a sleeve to go on the Marion Foale's Jacket..

The perfect shawlette

I have finished one sleeve of Marion Foale's green Jacket but I think It is a bit like watching paint dry, few more inches will be too boring to show so decided to bring you ishbel, courtesy of Ysolda http://ysolda.com/wordpress/2009/01/14/ishbel-pattern/. On ravelry you can see dozens of this lovely shawlette.

I purchased the same yarn the original pattern was made from, an Old Maiden Aunt yarn. a 4 ply mix of alpaca and merino, 'moody'.

It is the perfect size for me to use as a cowboy triangular scarf;

Here I am in a chilly spring day somewhere in the new forest. Love it and it is almost always in my handbag ,ready to be pulled out in time of need.