Whitehorses

We host very frequent KALs at our LYS (Pompon Laine Café) and it usually has one very positive effect : it keeps me on track with a deadline! 

I'm a very polygamous knitter and I often have at least a dozen WIPs laying around my craft room. Some nights, I'll even alternate rows on 3-4 different projects just to keep me going when my knitting mojo is off. But when we have a common focus on a designer or a category of knits, I become a disciplined knitter and finish it in time!

This sweater was knit during our #kalpomponcaitlinhunter. The pattern is Whitehorses by Caitlin Hunter. I used Tynn Merinoull by Sandnes Garn, which is a fingering weight superwash merino with a nice twist, combined with Drops Lace, an alpaca silk blend. The fabric it creates is amazing! I'm already trying to figure out what other sweater I could knit with this blend. 

It was wise to pick such a neutral grey as I can pair it with everything. I try to knit more neutral and subtle colours these days, as I know they are easy to use and can then be worn with colourful shawls! 

I though I'd have a hard time with the cropped fit, but it turns out I love it! Now to find all the high waisted garments... or sew them!

With the Holidays around the corner, I hope to get more time for photoshoots and blogging. Fall is tricky, with its crazy schedule and scarce lighting, but I have a lot of new knits to feature!

Afmaeli

This story of a lopi sweater starts like it often does, with my sister-in-law bringing me back some Lettlopi yarn from Iceland. How I wished I lived in a country that sells yarn in grocery stores!

I had 6 balls of the Golden Heather (main colour) and a few others (yellow, dark brown, grape). The combination was not up my alley, but I loved the main colour! So I just went through my stash of aran weight and made up a gradient from turquoise to plum to make the Afmaeli by Védís Jónsdóttir.

Can you believe this is a free anniversary pattern from Lopi? It is gorgeous! And quite popular too. Looking at the various projects is inspiring and convinced me to knit a second one. 

The borders and flower motifs were made using Briggs and Little in Fundy Fog. I really like that pale lavender heather... When I finished and blocked the sweater, I was worried about it being too long. But I found it is perfect as is! It covers nicely both as an outer layer as snuggled up inside the house.

I used Ysolda's Strokkur pattern for the shaping of the body of the sweater, hence placing the darts under the bust. It fits nicely, but in retrospect I'm not sure I need it. I'm trying the no shaping option for my second version, sticking to the original pattern, so we'll see what's best!

Bright Sweater

Have you seen Junko Okamoto's designs? They are so unique and engaging... Many of them are one size fits all, which means you either get a super cozy oversize fit or you can choose to tweak it and make it smaller.

The first one on my list was the Bright Sweater. I knit this with Andean DK from Estelle Yarn, a very very lightweight that feels more like a sport weight to me. With 350 m to a 100 g, it's lofty and has an excellent price/meterage ratio!

 

I followed the pattern with no mods, except maybe for the lenght of my sleeves. Although I might go back and add an inch to each. The yoke is fantastic. It stays up around the neck without being tight and the mix of cables, twisted rib and clusters keep everything in place.

Don't you just love those details of texture on the sleeves? 

The construction of this sweater is super interesting and keeps you your toes at every corner.

As I said on my Ravelry project page, I could definitely knit another one. But then I want pretty much every design by Junko!

Find Your Fade

Since we are doing the #kalpomponfade at our LYS, I decided to kick myself in the butt and gather enough stash yarn to make a Find Your Fade by Andrea Mowry. 

I'll have to figure out a way to picture the entire shawl in a pretty way. Maybe a clothesline or a fence... For now, let's look at it in chunks. 

As I stated on my project page, I used only stash yarn for this one, but I ran out quite a few times. I wasn't sure about the various colours, but I like the effect. It's subtle in a light pink in the middle, with deeper and more saturated colours at the tips. 

It is huge! Everyone says it is, and it's true. Being a loose knitter, I made sure I didn't stretch it during blocking, but garter stitch has a will of its own! If I were to knit this again, I would take the calculator out and take off some of the garter stitch rows to make it smaller while still ending the same way. 

This piece will serve as a wrap and blanket in the sofa for sure! It is so cosy and soft. Can't wait to wear it outside when it gets more chilly.

I am not done with the #kalpomponfade and fading in general. While I'm writing this, I'm already knitting my third SoFaded sweater and I intend to make the Pint-sized for my goddaughter.

It's a wrap!

My Joji MKAL is done now! That Starting Point pattern, by Joji Locatelli, was a big commitment! 5 weeks of knitting on 5 skeins and very little left (I'll weight and update my Ravelry project page).

I wasn't sure I would take part, until the first clue was out and I looked at the spoilers to find that the colour changes happened frequently. That really did it for me, so I went through my stash and cast on. 

But I wasn't happy with my first pick. It was too busy and I felt I needed a more classic look for this wrap. I own a great deal of colour crazy shawls... Proof here, here and here. 

So I frogged my first attempt and purchased five new skeins from our shop! I'm very happy with my gradient from natural to Mouton noir (a blueish black). The other upside is that most of the content is local : two Julie Asselin and one Sweet Paprika. Again, all details on my yarns are listed on my project page. 

Everything is smooth and soft and a pleasure to wear. The process wasn't bad either, but let's just say I was grateful to attend all these congresses and conferences those 5 weeks as it was a loooot of garter stitches!

Folded, it looks like a blanket. Well, extended too! If I doubled the size in width I'd have a bedcover!

Looking forward to wearing it in many, many different ways, including snuggled in front of tv with my knitting!

My Cotton Sheep!

I knit my first Dessine-moi un mouton almost two years ago to the date. It's one of Rililie's most famous design and it's no wonder. What a lovely pattern to play with fun colour stripes!

When we received the brand new Mondial Bio Soft Cotton, it looked so good stacked on the shelf that I felt the urge to combine some of the colours for a sweater and figured I could use a Dessine-moi un mouton in cotton... 

I used a few Mandarin Petit by Sandnes Garn, including the main colour. It was such a fun and addictive project! That broken seed stitch done in two colours always looks good.

 

I knit the pattern in size M to account for the texture of the cotton and because my first wooly version is a tad small. I also added a few rows before getting on to the border. I decreased a lot more in the sleeves, but I find I almost always have to with Rililie's pattern, maybe because of a different gauge and/or tension. It just means you have to keep on tryin' those sleeves until they fit!

I'm glad to report that the sweater was such a success that both my LYS partner and two customers are working on their cotton versions as well! If that's not the best compliment a knitter can receive, I don't know what is! ;)

Rainbow Kerchief

I'm a big fan of anything Kauni. Proof here and a Funky Grandpa in the works...

The most popular colourway (by far) is the EQ rainbow. It's crazy, but so impressive. I had to knit it up and I chose to tame it down with some neutral grey alpaca. Here is the result :

I used UandIKnit’s Silk Garden Classic as inspiration for this shawl. I wanted something simple to feature the gradient. The pattern is not available anymore, but it's a fairly intuitive design.

Like I wrote on my project page, I find the spine is a little too deep and wish I went for a crescent shape, but I still like it very much. Although the middle length is hanging, it holds itself real well (thank you wool and alpaca!) and stays in place however I chose to wear it.

I used the remaining of my Kauni to make tassels that I love! I think they're cute and they help tie up my shawl when I head out in the cold. 

My Kauni obsession is not over and I long for an intricate stranded and steeked cardigan. I'm off to search for patterns yet again!