Stormdoor II

I have several knits to share with you but somehow never seem to find the motivation to blog about it.  However this morning motivation finally struck and here I am. You may remember the Plucky Knitter Stormdoor shawl I knitted for my sister for her birthday in 2016.

I enjoyed knitting the pattern so much that I decided there and then to knit myself a shawl too. That I did sometime last year and I am just as smitten with the result as I was with the green beauty for my sister. 

The colour in the images is not quite representative to the true colour which is a very dark burgundy. Reds are very difficult to photograph and even with a lit of tweaking the colour channels this is the best I could do.

The yarn this time is from the Plucky Knitter and is their gorgeous cashmere/silk yarn Spiffy in a sport weight. As you can imagine it's incredibly soft and feels luxurious and sumptuous around my neck. 

The beauty with this pattern is that you can use all of your yarn, you simply knit increases until you have used half and then you start with the decreases. Works a treat. Two done and already another planned. 

Happy knitting and quitting. 

Storm Door in green

Time for an update on my knitting which is still going strong. We siblings don't do Christmas presents anymore but we do do birthdays and my sister's was at the end of December. And what do you get a girl that has everything (don't we all !), of course something knitted. Anja has already plenty of quilts so I thought it was high time for a knit. 

This scarf is one of many, many scarf pattern that are in my Ravelry library. It's called Storm Door and is by Plucky Knitter. It's a gorgeous pattern and versatile in that you can make the scarf smaller or bigger. I used the softest merino mix wool I have ever had the pleasure gliding through my fingers. It is Casbah from Hand Maiden in fingering (80% merino, 10% Nylon and 10% Cashmere). The yarn is as soft as a 100 % cashmere yarn would be. Quite astonishing to be honest. 

The yarn was purchase at loveknitting and I used two full skeins. The pattern called for less but I made the scarf bigger.

The colour is called Cedar and as you can see in the close-up shots its ever so slightly variegated which makes it just gorgeous and sumptuous. Needles to say my sister was very happy indeed. And so was I. So much so that I already started a new one but this time for me. 

The first of the Autumn knits

My last post was titled the "The last of the Summer knits" but in the intervening 3 weeks it really has turned autumnal here in the UK. The leaves have turned and running along the river yesterday morning was a real joy. Wonderful earthy colours literally everywhere.

So it is time to move onto some warmer knits. The sweater I want to share with you today is knitted from a mixed yarn from the Pluck Knitter called "Lodge Fingering" It is spun from 60% Merino, 20% Cotton, 10% Silk and 10% Flax. Doesn't that sound great ? This will give warmth through the Merino portion, coolness via the cotton, a little bit of a shine with the silk and structure from the flax.

When I started knitting my mother thought it was not soft enough but by the time it was finished, she was quite smitten with the yarn and its softness and also with the pattern. I used a simple raglan pattern from the people of Purl Soho called "Lightweight Raglan Pullover" which by the way is a FREE pattern.

This pattern has several interesting features; a curved bottom made from short rows and rolled cuffs and neck which gives it a really professional yet relaxed finished. 

I have warn this gorgeous sweater several times already and could not be happier with the fit, its shape (which it keeps very well) and its feel.

The only design item I did not like was that it was difficult to try on as arms and body are knit separately before being combined from the underarm section upwards. This makes frequent checks on the fit quite difficult. And I can't quite help thinking that the same good fit could have been achieved with a topdown version of it. The yarn was a little thicker than the suggested from the pattern which made it important for me to check the correct sizing often (I knitted the smallest size).

The last of the Summer knits

The sweater I want to share with you today is another linen knitted number and if you are counting then this will make it 3 linen jumpers this year ! (See here and here for the other two). I love each of them and have worn them a lot this summer.  But my favourite is possibly this one and that is saying a lot. Why ? Because I actually am not that fond of stripes (or maybe I am a closeted stripe lover as my "Funky Granddad cardigan has plenty of those too).

The pattern I followed is "Stripe Parade" from the Plucky Knitter . It is very easy to knit and the raglan sleeves make for a very good fit indeed. 

When I returned the leftover skeins from my other linen Quince&Co sweater to Loop, I spotted all these wonderful skeins and just could not resist to quickly grab a few and design there and then another project.

If you are interested, the colours are 2 skeins of Fundi and one skein each of Hibiscus, Blue Spruce, Banyon and Citron. Although I would normally knit for a chest size 36, I knitted in the smallest size available as linen "grows" during knitting and while worn. And the sizing worked out perfectly. 

I also altered the stripe pattern to adjust for my taste and yarn availability.