Here is a new vest I just finished up for fall from the book Feminine Knits. This design and the book are by Lene Holme Samsoe, a Danish designer. It uses really very little yarn for a garment and could almost be made with leftover yarn. I made this one out of two skeins (420 yds) of Honey Lane Farms 100% alpaca. Honey Lane Farms is an alpaca farm close by in the San Juan Islands and they make the most wonderful yarn! Here's the original from the book:
It turned out very close to this, I think. My second project is Cherry from the book Winter Blooms, by Kim Hargreaves. I knit mine with Sunday Knits' Nirvana, which is 92% merino and 8% cashmere. It's a good enough substitute for the Rowan Pure Cashmere DK recommended in the book and is just $8.95 per skein, which is a generous 246 yards. This beret can be made with one skein.
It turned out to be a big hat, even though I took a few rows out, and I think I was on gauge since the original looks similar. I'm not sure about the color of mine (it's a pale blue), but I think it would look nicer if I knit a matching scarf and/or gloves in the same color to go with it. But that would require buying more yarn!
I do have enough Sunday Knits Nirvana 3-ply in charcoal for a sweater. I had originally planned on making this:
But my husband was a little "meh" about the design for me, and since the pattern is a little complicated, I think it may end up becoming this, Chaise from Kim Hargreaves' Winter Blooms. It's a plain sweater with little pockets on the front and seed stitch edgings, the sort of thing I would wear all the time. I'm definitely a pullover kind of gal. I've made a number of cardigans and I never have the right thing, in the right fabric, of the right length, to layer under them. So I find I don't wear them all that much.
I enjoyed doing the beret because I really like working with 4-ply on small needles, so I look forward to finishing up some things so I can start this. One of these is the project below, another ribbed vest just like the alpaca one in Tahki Cotton Classic. Got the back done!
I didn't mean to make this, actually. I was working away on a Rebecca sweater with the Cotton Classic and began to suspect I would not have enough yarn. I wouldn't know until I'd put much more work into it whether it could be achieved. I happened to notice the stitch count of the back was exactly the same as for my vest, so I made it a tad longer than the other one and finished it as the back of the vest. I will probably have some leftover, but that's way better than running out of this discontinued color! I think it will look a bit different than the alpaca one, more rustic and perhaps even a slimmer profile compared to the fuzzy alpaca. Since it's cotton, it may even be a great thing to . . . layer under one of my store bought cardigans for work! We'll see.
2 comments:
The vest is lovely as is the beret. I think the cabled cardi is pretty and most likely would be quite lovely seen outside a picture. My husband often dismisses a particular knitted picture, only to be pleasantly surprised to see it knitted up!
Melody
I love your vest, it's a great use of yarn even if you do have enough for a sweater. I often forget about making vests! I am also making Chaise, it's on hiatus right now as it's in alpaca, but need to get it out again soon so I can wear it this winter.
Post a Comment