Hi friends and happy Wednesday!
What are you working on this week? I’m still trucking along with my Arctic Intentions — I’m down to the rib cuff on sleeve number one:
One more sleeve, a bit of knitted pocket lining, and then it’ll be ready to roll! Have I ever told you how much I love button bands that are knit as you go? I don’t know what it is, but picking up button bands at the end of a project always seems like such a task. But not on this sweater — that garter stitch button band was knit alongside the body of the sweater, woo hoo! I think this knitted cardigan-verging-on-jacket is going to serve me quite well over the coming months!
With the onset of fall, I’ve really wanted to cast on all the things, but I’m trying to exercise a bit of restraint and focus on finishing projects before starting new ones (revolutionary, right?). But I’d been feeling a bit stressed last week, so as a little treat, I gave myself permission to cast on something new Sunday. It took some doing to decide just what out of my massive mental queue of things to knit I wanted to start next, but I finally settled on Melodia, by Janina Kallio:
Do you see that? The yarn sparkles! I’d heard Louise of KnitBritish’s great review of this sparkly Knitting Goddess 4-ply a few weeks back and was intrigued — she described it as a yarn that even people who don’t normally go for sparkly yarn would love (that’s me). When I saw this skein in the flesh (er, wool?) at Northern Yarn, I knew I had to have it. I love the unexpected combination of a sheepy, breed specific wool (the yarn is a blend of British BFL and Masham) in a natural color with that subtle strand of sparkle. I’ve found it so incredibly pleasant and soothing to knit with, and it makes a delightfully light but still eminently squishable fabric on US size 6 needles. I think it’ll be a perfect shawl for the holidays!
On the reading front, I’ve just started Counting Sheep, which I’m pretty excited to get into — a history of different sheep breeds in the UK. I’ve only just begun, but so far, it’s a much rosier history from that described in Love of Country, which I just finished and highly recommend — so I was a bit of a resisting reader for the first few pages. But I’m looking forward to seeing what’s to come — maybe I’ll do a paired review of the two when I’ve finished!
Linking up with As Kat Knit’s Unraveled Wednesday — go see what others are up to this week! And as always, I love to hear what you’re working on (or reading!) in the comments.
xo K
Your sweater is beautiful and a button band as you go is brilliant. Lovely shawl too.
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Thank you so much Juliann 😀
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See I prefer picking up the button band, it’s like an oddly soothing thing to me. LOL Unless I’m short on time. I also cast on for a fingering weight shawl, dotted rays, as my knit this when you need a break from something else project. I’m sure it’ll take me over a month to finish but I love the bright pink yarn and it’s kind of soothing.
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Haha, isn’t it funny how knitting preferences can be so different??? I wish I found it soothing … I have at least one sweater that’s stalled over the buttonband, ha! I bet your Dotted Rays is going to be GORGEOUS
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Ooh! I can’t wait to see both your sweater and shawl finished! They are both absolutely gorgeous 🙂 I’m making stuff for family / friends right now, so haven’t been able to blog about them. I head off to Indiana in 2 1/2 more weeks and I’ll be able to share at that time. If you want a sneak peek, you can take a look at my Ravelry.
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Oh my goodness I just had a look at your Ravelry page and SO much cuteness going on there!!!
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Who doesn’t find picking up stitches for a button band tedious? Isn’t that just a fact? A knitted on button band does sound like a dream. And it looks like such a cozy sweater!
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i think it’s going to be so toasty and snuggly!
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You are really zippin’ along on your cardigan. How good that must feel, yeah? And that sparkle! Wowza. It’s like Christmas magic.
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Thanks Stefanie! It’s been fun how fast that cardi is — but I feel like I’m not making progress on anything this week, blergh!
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That is lovely yarn for a shawl. The sweater looks nice and warm too. I am finishing up two pairs of socks and a cowl. Currently rereading “When Women Were Birds.” It is one of my favorite books.
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Thank you so much Jane! I just looked up that book and it sounds really interesting!
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Is that Stephen West’s Dotted Rays? I recently put that in my Rav queue, too 🙂
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It isn’t, though that’s a gorgeous shawl too! It’s Melodia by Janina Kallio 😀
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