Let's get the bad news out of the way first...more yarn stash additions. In this case, it's not so bad as the yarn that I have bought is destined to be knitted up in the near future AND given away, instead of being destined to live in my yarn box. The woollen string in discussion is nine skeins of Rowan Silky Tweed, seven in a wonderful deep green-blue shade called Inky, flecked with olive, aqua and turquoise and the remainder in Flamenco, a warm brown in shades of sienna with oatmeal, orange, terracotta and varying grey flecks. The colour and variation of the yarn, along with it's softness (a blend of lambswool and silk) and it's cheapness (reduced from £5.75 per skein to £3 per skein) meant that it was irresistible. And masculine enough to please the recipients of my knitting, who are both male.
When considering what I knit I am of the accessory breed-hats, bags, scarves (many, many scarves!), mittens- things that are relatively small that I can easily improvise and not worry about size. Okay, so hats and mittens do have to fit but at least I can try them on whilst creating them (if the hat is made top down). But recently my attention has be turned to the world of garment knitting, a much more skillful task. The few attempts I have made with garments have never resulted in a finished item, either I got bored and never finished knitting the pieces or I finished all the pieces but didn't sew them up as I find it the most tedious part of the process. It is very rare that I see a knitted garment and think 'That's amazing, I MUST knit that', it's usually more along the lines of 'That's amazing, but I so can't be bothered to knit that'. This perpetual line of thought was halted by my perusal of Noro Volume 26 and spotting the skirt that I have mentioned in my previous blog. I am currently on the fifth panel and have almost ran out of yarn so progression has halted. Knitting this hasn't gone completely smoothly, I followed the very obvious typo in the pattern and ended up with too many rows on the second panel, which I then had to correct on the third by doing fewer increases. Overall this hasn't changed the shape of the skirt too much and I am very pleased with how it looks.
The Noro skirt
Yesterday I purchased a knitting magazine I had never seen before-Verena Knitting. According to the cover it is 'Europe's top knit magazine', which has now been translated into English (albeit for the American market). Never had I looked through a magazine and wanted to make so many items. What I like about this magazine is that it looks at knitting with a fashion eye, but all of the pieces are completely wearable, bar one or two heinous eyesores. These are the pieces that I definitely want to make:
Isolde-shift dress with pleat, welt and cable detail
Temple-button up vest with rib panelling and asymmetric lapels
Sorbet-simple wrap cardigan with garter stitch bands
I think my favourite design in the magazine is the Jeanne jacket. Sadly my knitting skills (and patience) are not quite up to the level needed to create this stunning piece, which perfectly balances sharp tailoring with looser, more relaxed styling. One side has a kimono style sleeve and structured lapel collar, with the hem of the jacket stopping just below the waist whereas the other side falls to the widest part of the hip, with a shawl collar and straight sleeve.
I also found inspiration within garments that I would not knit as whole pieces. The Toffee jacket showcases a beautiful cable detail that I would love to make into a scarf using a chunky yarn.
I have already decided to use up some of my stash yarn and create a cowl in the style of the collar from one of the jumpers. This looks like it's going to be a new era for my knitting...
