Provence Cardigan

This is the Provence Cardigan by Cecily Glowik MacDonald for Classic Elite Yarns.

Though I loved the teal version in the original pattern, I happened to have this fuschia in my stash (are we all proud of my stash-busting?!).

I'm really pleased with this. I made the 6-9 months size (I'm covering all ranges of sizing at the moment).

It's a fast, easy, delightful knit, with just a little lace to make it interesting. Notice the leaves at the bottom of the two fronts? I'm not mad about lace, but this little detail is subtle and really finishes the piece off perfectly. The leaves are so sweet and pretty.

It's edged in moss stitch at the ends of the sleeves and bottom of the cardigan. You'll notice the neck edge has a garter edging instead. I had originally immediately decided to convert the neck edge to moss stitch to mirror the rest of the garment, but in reality this would lead to all sorts of messy stitches and fudging around the corners. The garter that the designer used works so much better and she was right to do it.

As you may already have guessed, I converted this pattern to knit it in one piece, merely picking up stitches around the arm-holes to create the sleeves. As usual, I'm pleased I did that, as it makes everything go so much quicker, results in no seaming and I think little bodies would appreciate not having abrasive edges inside the cardigan rubbing against their skin.

There was a minor issue with the sleeves as I of course had to reverse the shaping as I knit them first of all top down, and second of all in the round. They worked out perfectly though.

I seamed the tops using Mattress Stitch, but could have easily done a 3-Needle Bind-Off, and that may have been even neater; I do love a good 3-needle bind-off. Oh well, next time.

I will almost definitely make another one, probably in a larger size and perhaps in lavender, teal or powder blue. This pattern seems to look good in every colour.

Lastly, before I sew them on, can I ask you for your advice: the buttons. All through knitting this cardigan, which only took about a week (and remember I only have evenings free to knit), I had imagined it with mother-of-pearl buttons. I had imagined little heart ones. Can you believe that in the huge button stash I didn't have anything suitable, (only little flower-shaped mother-of-pearl ones that were too small)? What a shame, I had to go and source some new ones! Of course, I knew exactly where to go and as soon as I got back from my holiday, snatched them up on Monday at lunchtime.

I'd be grateful if you would take a look at the following options, and let me know your feelings. I am now leaning strongly towards the round ones, as I feel the hearts could distract from the leaves in the cardigan, which should really be the only decorative feature. Anyway, I'd appreciate your opinions:

Option One, Mother-of-Pearl Hearts:

Option Two, Mother-of-Pearl Rounds:

Or something else altogether?

It's That Time of Year Again

Doesn't this make you smile? We could be in Japan, not West London! Is this an overladen bough, or what?

Apple blossom in our area always looks like snow (and it isn't long since we had snow). I also often think the covered branches look like furry teddy bear legs!

Last weekend I went to Louise's for a lovely Easter Sunday lunch. We had a great day. Here's a shot of the pavlova (more like a soft merringue) that I made. Let me know if you want the recipe.

Last weekend I wound a skein of lace yarn into a ball for Heather in our group. I must try to remember the name of it. It's the softest thing I have ever touched, pure cashmere, and a lovely acqua colour.

Can you guess what this is? I should have a new FO for you fairly soon.

Swallowtail

15 days and many, many nupps later, here it is:

This is my Swallowtail Shawl, beautifully designed by Evelyn Clark.

Now, those of you who read this blog are probably wondering why on earth I made this, given my (mild) dislike for lace and shawls. Yes, this is both lace and a shawl. Allow me to clarify: for some inexplicable reason I felt drawn to this particular shawl; it may have had something to do with seeing Natalie's shimmering version in the window of Stash a couple of months ago. The strange thing about lace is that although I don't always love the finished product, I do really love knitting lace.

Anyway, I knit it in Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk in a lovely dark grey. It's really good to work with and just slips off the needles. I only wish there was a slightly higher sheen to it.

Did you notice that it's cunningly hanging from a tree branch? I had wanted to photograph the shawl amongst the red and gold foliage of my favourite season, and all week had had one particular russet-hued Beech tree in mind. However, I walked around the neighbourhood all day yesterday in van searching for a branch I could actually reach. In the end I had to settle for a tree with leaves that were still tinged with the previous season's green, but you get the idea.

This pattern was a breeze. Saying that, in the beginning I frogged it a grand total of five times while I tried to work out the Budding Lace repeats. It took showing it to someone at Knit Night (thanks Mel) for me to realise that there were three words below the chart which I had completely managed to miss: "Six-Stitch Repeat". Noticing that at the very beginning would have saved me a lot of frustration!

After that it went very quickly. The fun part was the nupps - lots and lots of them every row once you get to the Lily of the Valley edging.

I plan on wearing it to work to keep my necky toasty and prevent my usual winter cold, while remaining smart enough for an office environment.

As soon as this was OTN and blocking I got started on something else. Can you guess what this yarn is? There's no prize, I'm just testing you!

I also have some work to do on the camel cardigan, plus DH' s aunt has asked me to make something too, so I should probably get back to it...