The Saga and Success of the Good Vintage Cardigan

Afternoon all,
today I want to tell you about a project that nearly didn't happen. A good vintage cardigan by Fran Morgan. I saw pictures of the front cover of simply crochet way back in late February and instantly fell in love. As soon as I could I  rushed into town to try and get it, but it seemed everyone else had the same idea.



Unfortuantely everywhere was sold out at which point I had a senior moment and instead of looking on Ravelry I decided to download the app and buy the magazine. The app is shockingly bad and it took several attempts to download before I could actually print out a copy.

The next problem was the yarn King Cole 4ply  silver grey, which is the main colour  had been discontinued . What I predominately liked about the cardigan was the grey. Luckily I have a very good friend, Chris , who owns a Fine Yarn in Darlington and she managed to source the grey for my cardigan and for a friend who also wanted to make it and some of the other colours needed.



By mid July I had finally manged to get the rest of the colours together except the Scarlet, which I had decided to substitute for Rose as I found the scarlet too strong against the other colours.  I realised early on that even though the grey was the same dyelots the grey varied from silver grey to brown grey dependant on the ball so I striped the yarn. Everything was going really well, the pattern is easy to follow and with the exception of the sleeve heads could be done in front of the TV, then the ultimate disaster. I ran out of the grey. I only needed two grey stripes at the top of the sleeves and the button bands although I could of done other colours with them.



No where had any more! Chris hadn't got any more, the internet was drawing a blank. Luckily my friend who wanted also wanted to  make it, hadn't started hers and was willing to lend me the extra yarn that I needed. Thank you Kathy!

I am so glad that I persevered with this as I love the finished result! It is so much fun and very cheerful for grey days. It goes really well with denim which is a bonus as it is an excuse to make yet another Cleo although that might have to wait until after Christmas.

Feeling Virtuous!

My New years resolution was to finish stuff! I started this about 6 years ago for my Elenya, my eldest but it got stashed when the twins were born. As you can see there was only about 4 inches on the sleeves and cuffs,collars and buttonbands to do. I pulled it out of its bag the day I finished the Debbie Bliss cardigan. I couldnt actually remember which cardigan it was that I was knitting - I had originally thought it was the one on the front cover of the book so that took a little while to sort out. The yarn for it was bought before all the internet shopping and is mainly acrylic - a shocker after Alpaca and silk. The next shocker was on Sunday when I realised I had lost one of the fronts. After ringing around everyone I had seen in the week it was retrived from a Cafe on monday morning. Lucky aren't I? Anyway here it is in its newly sewn, unpressed, unwashed state, with its new owner! She thinks she is wearing it tomorrow to school..........

Debbie Bliss Cardigan is finished!

I finished this last week. It was lovely to make, silk and alpaca warm and soft. The last day of knitting was a real panic when i realised how short all of the pieces were. The sleeves came half way up my arm. I had a brainstorming session with a friend as to how i was gonna make it fit. Crocheted edges in another colour was the only solution but press it first and see what happened. The sleeves were still on the needles when I pressed the rest which grew masses. I wonder how much it will grow when it is washed. Anyway this is me holding my belly in - at Mario's request.

Projects

Well I have been quite industrious since the begining of January. I have finished the back and nearly completed the fronts on my Debbie Bliss AlpacaSilk Cardigan. The butterfly quilt that I had managed 1/12 butterflies on now has a grand total of 9/12 and I am hoping to finish them all this week. I have started my Beth Russell Hare tapestry and am quite pleased with the results as it is the first time I have worked from a chart. But unfortunatley the camera seems to be on its last legs and I cant show you any of them!