Momentary Obsession

It has been a while since I have knit a sweater. I am knitting one right now, a cardigan that is, for my Mom for her birthday. (It is okay to mention this here, since she doesn’t know about this blog and doesn’t read English either. Don’t tell her, though, it is supposed to be a surprise!)

The cardigan in question is “Lotte” from “Fresh Fashion Knits”, a collection of “more than 20 Must-Have Designs from Rowan’s Studio Collection”. There are 21, to be exact, and while I don’t want to knit all of them, there are quite a few that piqued my interest. I stumbled upon the book at the store first, of course, as a customer was looking for the right yarn substitution for one of the projects.

That is the one drawback of the book, some of the yarns have been discontinued by Rowan and need to be substituted. It does look like that is not overly hard to do, since most of them are of the no-nonsense kind we know and love Rowan for. Kid Silk Aura for example can be easily substituted by two strands of Kid Silk Haze held together – I have tried, the outcome is great (and – I have checked – the price for the project would be about the same).

I am using the yarn that is recommended in the pattern (“Calmer”, sadly also discontinued) but I am sure there are other options for this particular project, should you feel inclined to knit it.

For now, I am smitten with this book and can’t wait to finish this project so I can go on to the next…while other projects sit forgotten. Ah well, I’ll get to those later…

- Mona

ETA: Yes, I do still knit on the teal mohair cardigan, I am still on the back. It is slow going so Lotte will be indeed my first sweater I am going to finish in a while!

On the Needles: Eco Cloud Chevron Colour-Block Blanket

One of the stand-out yarns for us this season is Cascade’s Eco Cloud – this is an incredibly soft alpaca (30%) / merino (70%) blend with a chainette, or braided, construction which lends strength and loft while minimizing the potential for shedding or pilling.  The yarn is produced naturally with no chemicals and is availabe in 10 undyed colours. It’s an ideal yarn for winter accessories as well as bigger sweater and blanket projects and we’ve been knitting with it like crazy!

Our latest project is an Eco Cloud Chevron Colour-Block Blanket. Adapting the pattern developed for our Missoni Inspired Scarf, Lisa is knitting this luxurious throw using 4 shades of the Eco Cloud palette. The “in-progress” photo below was taken a little while ago and the blanket is now nearly done and available for viewing / petting / snuggling in store.  Pattern is available free with yarn purchase!

- Melissa

On the needles: Hawthorne by Susanna IC

There were other projects in my queue but I couldn’t resist. Forget sugar plums, as soon as our order of Superwash Worsted from SweetGeorgia rolled into the store just before the holidays, visions of Susanna IC’s Hawthorne shawl in a gorgeous shade of orange danced in my head.

As those who know me can attest, my colour preferences lean heavily towards the “neutral” camp.  That said, there’s really no accounting for the fact that I am completely smitten by SweetGeorgia’s “Pumpkin” colourway. I can only attribute this attraction to an unconscious influence by the powers-that-be over at Pantone who have declared orange to be the 2012 Colour of the Year (Tangerine Tango to be exact).  I am not especially susceptible to trends but if I’m riding a “what’s hot” wave for the moment, I’ll live with it – knitting with this hue makes me feel happy and unabashedly optimistic for the year ahead.  I’m thrilled with the way this yarn is working with the Hawthorne pattern and suspect the finished shawl may be a stunner.  Stay tuned for final photos next week!

- Melissa