Girlfriends Cardigan AKA Soft and Squishy

I have just finished knitting the squishiest and softest sweater for myself and I can't wait to tell you about it! Obviously I was super inventive in my post name and descriptions because my basic description of the yarn is the name of the project. 

I've only worked with Shibui yarns one other time (yarn my sister picked out for a cowl) and I didn't keep the project. Shibui's goal with their yarns is to have knitters and crocheters hold their fibers together to create different fabrics and different weights. I held Pebble and Silk Cloud together for a lofty and warm garter stitch fabric. 

The Girlfriends Cardigan originally called for a US 4 but knew from my own knitting and my swatch that a US 6 was going to be needed for the correct gauge. The sweater, with the yarns held together, calls for a sport weight yarn and a US 4 gauge for me was just going to be too dense with not enough movement. 

The cardigan starts with a long icord along the top of the shoulders and then builds from there. The instructions aren't hard to follow but there were a few fiddley parts that I had to make sure to knit during great light times (about 10-2 here on the Peninsula). Holding two strands together isn't difficult but it did require a level of concentration and sight that I didn't always have time for. There is totally a few areas where I dropped on strand of the yarn, shrugs, it happens and I did not expect my sweater to be perfect. 

The two yarns together created a gorgeous fabric with the most heavenly halo, I feel spoiled being able to wear it. I do have to say, this cardigan was expensive! I purchased the yarn quite a few years ago at Stitches and it was definitely an impulse buy, I don't regret it but I don't live on a big spenders budget. I feel that there are quite a few options that knitters can research to create a similar fabric, one of the first ones to come to mind is Rowan Kidsilk haze, it is also a mohair and silk blend that is more affordable than Shibui. Have you knit with a mohair, silk blend before? I have a couple other sweater projects planned with this luxurious combo! If you're interested in seeing my project page and yardage you can take a look at the page on Ravelry here. 

#2018makenine

I hopped on the bandwagon this year after seeing my feed flooded with so many new (to me) awesome knitting and sewing patterns from #2018makenine. If you haven't visited this tag on Instagram GO NOW (Link provided) I have so many new patterns I want to give a try.

Mine is just knitting patterns but I definitely have a few sewing projects on the brain as well. Here is my nine makes I would like to get started/done this year!

1. Marion Cardigan by Andi Satterlund
2. Round Cove by Amy Herzog
3. Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier
4. Antonia/Antonio by Julie Weisenberger
5. Georgetown by Hannah Fettig
6. Shusui Shrug by Susanne Sommer
7. Stay Soft Shawl by Veera Valimaki
8. Hope Cardigan by Amy Christoffers
9. Exploration Station by Stephen West

Myrna

Happy New Year!

As soon as the first hint of cool weather hits NorCal I fall into sweater love. I want to dream, knit, wear all the sweaters.

My wardrobe consists mainly of high waisted skirts, 40's fit and flare dresses, and my trusty denim jeans. When I (and my mom) found Andia Satterlund's patterns I new they were going to be a staple in my wardrobe and I needed one ASAP.

I raided my stash and came up with six skeins of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in the pumpkin colorway to knit Myrna!

 I had just the right amount of yarn and the gauge was perfect! My gauge is never perfect, I always have to adjust (usually a needle size us) but I just got to knit! So Excited!

I love the added detail of the keyhole opening in the back of the sweater, gives a really unique twist on otherwise a fairly plain sweater. This was the first time I've knit a set-in sleeve and it fits my body to much better than a raglan. Whole new world of sweaters here people!

 As you can see, the color works amazing with my button skirt. I have already worn my sweater with a few other skirts and dresses. I have another Andi Satterlund pattern finished that I'll show you soon!

SSKAL Completed!

I finished my sweater! Yay! Woop, woop, woop! And it fits perfectly! Isn't that every knitters worry that their sweater won't fit when they finish? I definitely worried when I adjusted what size I was going to make because my gauge was larger than what the pattern called for. Had I used a smaller needle my sweater would have been bullet proof.

But my adjustments ended up being exactly perfect!

 I can't wait to be able to wear this on my trip to New York in a few weeks! I'm hoping the weather cooperates and it's actually cold enough. As a reminder the pattern is Chimney Fire and the yarn is Blarney Woollen Mills Aran Handknitting Wool.

The only adjustments I made intentionally was lengthening the body by an inch and go up a needle size when I started knitting in the round. I believe I had two extra stitches on the right arm in comparison to what the pattern called for. It didn't make any difference until I got to the cuff, then I had to decrease two extra stitches for the ribbing pattern to match up with the cables.

While blocking, the arms got a touch long so I've folded the cuffs to the correct length. I think I'll live with this for my trip to NY and if I don't like it throughout the trip I'll rip back and bind-off a little earlier. All-in-all I'm ecstatic about my sweater and very proud. I think, this sweater is the most impressive looking piece I've knit so far, but not necessarily the hardest. It really was basic sweater constructions with a few extras thrown in to keep you interested :)

My reading for this week has been the illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone. So many childhood memories are coming back with this comfort read. The illustrations are just what you  would expect from a Harry Potter novel. Though I was sad there was no illustration of the letter flying through the chimney for Harry! Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams for the Yarn and Craft Along this week!

SSKAL Update #2

My sweater is cruising right along! I've finished the body then picked up and knit a few inches on the arm! For a recap, the pattern is Chimney Fire using Blarney Woollen Mills Aran Handknitting Wool. I worked on this project for the Summer Sweater KAL along with This Knitted Life Olympic KAL.

Now back to your regularly scheduled knitting talk. I fell a bit behind in the original finish date for the SSKAL, so a lost some of my motivation to work on my sweater. Everyone in the KAL so kindly voted to extend the finish date! Yay! So I started working on the arm of my sweater. I decided I won't decrease in the arm as fast as the pattern calls for, I don't want the arms to end up too tight! I'm going to wear my sweater more as a jacket so I would like a layer or two underneath.

To adjust for the fact that I knit tighter in the round than flat I went up a needle size. I used an US 8 for the body and I switched to a US 9 for the arm. I need to get to work! I'm a just a tad further along in the arms that my pictures show; I'm just to the elbow now.

In other news, the Olympic KAL I mentioned above wrapped up at the Olympic closing ceremonies. When everything was added up and counted I won a prize! Yay! Competition you are such a great motivator!

Andrea from This Knitting Life sent me this beautiful skein of Swan Island fingering weight yarn. This is a beetroot base dye that is just gorgeous, such a tonal purple. I can't wait to find the perfect project for this! Thanks Andrea!

I'm joining Ginny for the Yarn along and Frontier Dreams. I just finished Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, 3 out of 5 vote for me. I went in thinking that it wasn't an original HP book so I wasn't too disappointed. I'm glad that I read it but I won't need to again.

SSKAL Update

As I talked about in my last post I'm participating in multiple KALs this summer. Two that I'm participating in are double dip, the Summer Sweater KAL and This Knitted Life Olympic KAL that just finished up with the Olympics Closing Ceremonies. My sweater for the KALs is Chimney Fire by Melissa J. Goodale using Blarney Woollen Mills, Aran Weight, yarn I bought in Ireland!

I bought this yarn specifically for this pattern, I needed to have a cabled sweater as a reminder of my trip to Ireland. I'm working on this sweater specifically for October because I'm going to Rhinebeck! Ahhhh! So excited! This is the sweater that I wanted to be able to show off at this fabulous fiber festival.

I had to make a few adjustments once I swatched. I was knitting with the recommended needle (US 8) and gauging a bit large, to adjust I went down a pattern size. I was a tad worried about fit but so far it's perfect. For the Olympics KAL I focused more on heavy weight yarns which means I made it through the arms and part way into the body in 16 days! I'm definitely going to make my October deadline.

I'll write another post in a week updating on my progress. Once my tallies are done more details will be shared about the TKL Olympics KAL!

European Lillian

In my last post I talked about how I'm looking for travel knitting because I'm going back to Europe! I'll be there for a month, visiting Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Scotland, and England! I'm so excited (if you couldn't tell by all the exclamation points)! I've been watching the weather and researching what I should pack. I decided I needed to knit a sweater to bring with me.

I knew that it needed to be a cardigan which would be more versatile while traveling. I also knew that I wanted it to be from stash. One of my resolutions for the year is to knit one pattern from every pattern book I own. So I went pattern searching and decided on the Lillian Cardi from Madder Anthology 2: Simple Pleasures. Guys, this is not only an amazing pattern but an amazing book. I want to make all the things.

I used Knit Picks Swish Tonal, sadly now discontinued, which is a worsted weight 100% Superwash Merino. This was so nice to knit with! It was smooth and had great color but seems very durable.

I used a US 7 needle, my gauge was perfect for the row but off for the stitch so I made the 47.5 bust size which is gave about 5 inches of positive ease for me. This amount of ease adjusted for the tight gauge so the 47.5 fits me perfectly, I couldn't be happier.

This was a really quick knit, 13 days from cast-on to unpinned from blocking. I feel like I should forever knit worsted weight sweaters because that was mind blowing. I decided that the only blocking the sweater really needed was on the ribbing. I made an adjustment to the length of the sweater by shortening the body by 1.5 inches (I have a short torso and I didn't want it to hang past my butt). In addition to shortening the body I omitted the pockets, I like the classic clean lines of the cardi without the pockets.

I loved that the pattern had seamed sleeves! My gauge is always tighter in the round so I had decided for my next sweater I would seam the sleeves so gauge didn't change. I didn't have to change anything because this pattern already incorporated it! I will definitely be knitting another of these sweaters, probably in a solid because that would work best in my wardrobe.