Warm Weather Knitting

This summer, I began with knitting a wool/linen three-quarter sleeve pullover. This was a success: love the yarn and the pattern.

Yarn: Leinen Los (70% wool and 30% linen blend) by Schoppel-Wolle 
Pattern: Gemini by Jane Richmond, from Kintty
Needles: 4 mm

I partially followed modification applied by the designer herself on her later version to transform the tee to three-quarter length sleeves. Also, I decided to use lace pattern throughout along the neck. 

To do lace pattern all around the neck turned out to be rather simple. First race round: yo twice, k2tog, k2tog, yo twice, k2tog … The first yo is for the last yo of the round. You will see when you try it yourself.  On the next round: One has to move the marker for the beginning of round every round and move the marker one stitch ahead so that the first yo will go to the end of the round. 

Following the notes from the author’s modified version with ¾ length fitted sleeves, I stopped increasing stitches once there are 66 stitches (for size M) for sleeves, while I kept increasing stitches per instruction for front and back bodice. The author recommends the following stitch count for fitted sleeves: 56 (60, 66, 74, 80, 88, 94) stitches. 

Sleeve shaping for 3/4 length sleeve knitted flat: Increase stitches at the beginning and the end of the 66 stitches for seam allowances. Knit even for 12 rows. Worked paired decreases on the next and every 10th row to 48 sts. Knit one more row. Switch to 3.75 mm needles and knit in 1 x 1 ribbing for 6 rows. Total of 100 rows were knitted for sleeves. Cast off loosely. 

Applied slipped chain stitches along the inner cast on edge along the neckline to reduce the neck opening.

It is too warm to wear the pullover outdoor now, but it is useful indoor where AC blasts.

Next, a cotton/silk peplum cardigan.  I used long-since-discontinued Fable yarn in red/orange color, named Goldilocks and the three bears.  I even had perfect buttons for the yarn.

Yarn: Fable (85% cotton and 15% silk blend) by Artful Yarns 
Pattern: Searing by Kim Harvreaves 
Needles: 4 mm and 5 mm

The design is for worsted weight yarn with 20 stitches per 10 cm while my yarns's gauge is 16 stitches with 5 mm needles.  I knitted the dimension of size M by following stitch counts for size XS and adjusted the row counts as I went on.  I did not have enough yarn to knit the full sleeve length and I knitted sleeves somewhat shorter.  The cardigan is intended for summer and I am fine with shorter sleeves.

And, next up will be Estonia dress!  I am all excited about this project.

Baileys Irish Cream Cardigan

Before I got busy with glove knitting, I finished Baileys Irish Cream cardigan.  The lace pattern on it is very pretty, and every detail appealed to me.  Naturally, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. 

Mine was knitted with a sport weight yarn with 20% cashmere, slightly thinner than the pattern calls for.  Hence, I followed instructions for a larger size. 

Skirt: Christine Jonson’s Pencil skirt
Tank Top: New Look 6068 View B

Ms. Marie Wallin

Sometimes I do not pay much attention to the designers of my knitting projects, especially when they are from magazines.  Last winter, though, I noticed that I was knitting two of the designs by Marie Wallin.   Over all, I've knitted five of her designs: namely Bronwen, Gelsey, Harris, Curio, Orkney and Harmonie.  Not only that, four of my to-do projects are by Ms. Wallin.  If you are on Ravelry, you will see which one I am talking about: Kintyre pullover, Rannoch dress, Glade pullover, and Dietrich cardigan.  Obviously, I love Ms. Wallin's work.  I wish her well in her health and her creative career.