Not just for Pandas - Knitting up a Lacy Bamboo Cotton Cardigan

The finished cardi 

I have been working on this fab cardi for the past month and am very happy with the end result, so much so that I am writing this quick blogpost to share it with those of you on Blogger who may not be on Ravelry, where I shared some photos and pattern details here. 

The pattern is by Anniken Allis who is a pattern designer for, among other publications, Let's Knit, a lovely UK Knitting  monthly which I have been getting when I see it in the bookshops for the past few months. This pattern is called Serena and is from the May 2012 issue. It is in King Cole Bamboo Cotton, a lovely yarn with a great fall and drape, which means it hangs well on the wearer! It also doesn't seem to crease, as I've had it bunched up in a bag in my car and it was fine, so it's a dream for holiday packing.

I got the yarn as a stash-busting treat to myself when I got a gift voucher from my daughter-in-law's mother Irene last month when she was here for the wedding of Shayne and Jany, and they came to visit us for an afternoon during their  holiday after the wedding. As the yarn is a bit pricey (about 7 euro for 100gm) and the cardi pattern called for 4-5 balls, I probably would have balked at buying it with my guilt-inducing stash and my pledge to forego any new purchases till it's diminished. But a gift voucher is different isn't it? Yes, thought so!

Note the matching nail polish!

Blocking on foam playmats!

And in the spirit of supporting local crafts, I was delighted the voucher was from the fabulous Design Workshop where Angela plays host to our Tuesday Knitters Circle. I dithered over the colour to choose, given that she had my fave colour hot pink but I decided to be daring and go for another fave colour of this vivid Peacock Blue Shade 531. I started the cardigan in one piece for the fronts and back, and it worked fine, to the sleeve divide and then I worked as if I was working each piece individually. The only thing I didn't do was eliminate the side seam stitches for a totally seamless pattern of lace. I think my maths and chart reading aren't good enough for that yet, or my confidence.

Blocking the sleeves

WIP Stitch and side seam detail

The sleeves were worked in the round using the Magic Loop method with a circular needle, size 3.5mm used throughout (size 9 UK). I had used that  method on two previous jumpers and it worked fine. They were also Anniken Allis designs from Let's Knit.

Blocking on playmats

The shoulders were joined with the three-needle cast off, and I had some short-row shaping to do for the last few rows. I liked the detail in the lace pattern that meant right and left front were mirror images of each other, not identical. This kind of detail is something I'd never think of which is why I knit, not design! This is the third Anniken Allis jumper I've made in the past 4 or 5 months so I think I can safely say she's a favourite and very easy to follow. The charts are also easy to follow and she explains the technical stuff too, like short row shaping and neat buttonholes.

detail of armholes

I took some photos of the WIP and the Blocking (on kiddies' foam play mats that slot together) as well as the modelling - it got premiered at a colleague's hen party last Friday and got plenty of praise, much to my delight. There's something about hand-knits that's extremely satisfying and I am delighted I rediscovered the Zen of knitting and crochet in recent years - as I said to someone on Facebook yesterday - it's my Yoga!

New Knitting - My Teal Lace-Trim Jumper

My new cotton jumper

 This is a jumper I finished in time for the Immrama Launch in Lismore Castle so you've seen it being modelled if you read the blogpost on that event - and it's also on my Facebook profile pic, as it was taken by the pro photographer on the night and the quality is great. Better than my Panasonic Lumix point'n'shoot or my iPhone pix!

I thought to share this project with the various knitaholics among my blog readership, apologies to the rest of you who find knitting up there on a par with watching paint dry, but that's the joys of blogging - anything goes.

I got the pattern from the March 2012 edition of Let's Knit, a UK knitting mag, which was new to me, but has lovely patterns in it. I get a lot of American crochet and knitting mags, and find the crochet ones easier if they're American as I use the American stitches in crochet, which means the UK crochet mags wreck  my head. I have to do a translation of the pattern as I go along, and often mess up, and even though I am totally baffled  by pattern charts in crochet, which the Americans favour, I am getting used to reading knitting charts for lacy projects, as in the cast of this jumper.

Bathroom mirror modelling - to show neck detail!

It was designed by Anniken Allis (her Ravelry link) and it was a first for me, working from a lace chart. Also the shoulders were not cast off, just  left on a stitch holder and they involved the Wrap and Turn technique to slope them, and then they were joined by the 3-needle cast-off (bind-off for my American readers). This is a technique I was used to from my sock knitting, as I always use it for the toes, and my iPhone cosy too. It leaves a lovely neat finish, and I will use it ad infinitum!

Another first for me was knitting the three-quarter length sleeves in the round, which meant they were seamless. I was chuffed with that as it wasn't on the pattern, and I managed to incorporate the sleeve shaping with no problems. I also blocked the pieces, which was  a step I've never done before - all those knitting books are paying off - and it really gave it a neat finish.

Detail of neck back

My favourite part of the jumper was the lace detail, especially on the neck back. It is a little triangle, and it was easy enough to do once I could concentrate on the counting. The same trim was in the pattern for the sleeves, and I adapted the pattern to include the same trim on the front and back hem. I think that enhanced it and it turned out lovely. What do you think?

Note seamless sleeve: pre-blocking, a bit too blue.

Swanky launch at Lismore Castle - with hubby Jan

The yarn was adapted too - as long as it was cotton 4-ply (sportweight for American knitters) I was happy to go along with it. I had lovely teal cotton yarn from Lidl, called Lima - but I only had 250gm. That should have been enough, but that wasn't applicable to this yarn, and I ran out before the front was done! Disaster loomed as Lidl only bring out wool about twice a year and don't always run the same ranges from year to year, so I thought I'd  have to park the project. Then an angel of mercy appeared, in the person of Annie, one of the Tuesday Knitters at Angela's Design Workshop. She heard of my dilemma and offered me a pack of the same colour yarn she had bought last year! It was called Spring, and it was a 5-ply yarn with a slightly larger gauge, however, I decided to continue on the 3.5mm needles and it wasn't discernible. So unless you look with a gimlet eye for flaws, and spot a tiny discrepancy at the neck, it's totally fine by me.

Border detail - colour very hard to capture but this is it!

I wore the jumper for the launch of the Immrama Festival in Lismore Castle, and it got many compliments. The photos from the launch have been in the local papers so everyone can see my lovely jumper. I hope you like it too.