2013 in knits (May, June, July and August)

Much of the summer was dedicated to getting the house ready for selling, keeping it clean and tidy for viewing and once we had accepted an offer, getting our stuff ready to ship. There was still some time for knitting.

May

Golden Hour

I love this sweater but I hate the yarn. It was fine to work with but it pilled really badly after just a couple of wears. I would consider knitting this sweater again with different yarn. I love the garter stitch hem and cuffs.

June

Just a quick project for June. In fact, it was knit in single day.  Almost.  I finished the bind off at 00:30. The pattern is called The Age of Brass and Steam and the yarn is Mirasol Miski, which I think it is baby llama.  This was for a swap. The recipient likes orange!

July 

This month I finished one of my oldest WIPs.  I learnt a few lessons with this one.  I bought the pattern book (Rowan Purelife - The Organic Kids Collection) and yarn over 4 years earlier and started knitting this little sweater with a view to giving it to my niece. Soon after, I learned that the cotton yarn is hand wash only. It hadn't even crossed my mind that there might be a whole book of patterns for kids in a hand wash only yarn.  I sort of lost interest in this pattern and only made it halfway through the first piece. In a fit of stash busting/pre-move sorting out, I picked it up again and finished it off.  

The fate of this sweater remains uncertain but at least I have freed up the needles that were hibernating for almost five years!

Lessons learned: read the care labels before purchasing yarn.  I also learned to do a little bit of crochet.

August

Two FOs for August!  The first is my featherweight cardigan. I love this cardigan!  There was a time not that long ago when I swore I would never knit another garment in fine yarn. Featherweight was just the thing to cure of of that silly idea.  It's an open fronted cardigan knit at a loose gauge so although the yarn is fine, it progresses at a reasonable speed.

Across the Beach

When I started knitting again in 2007(ish?), I told a friend that I would knit her a scarf for her birthday.  It took me a while, but this year I did it.  This was by far the most complicated pattern I have knit and despite frustrations along the way, I did enjoy knitting it. I love the FO. 

Although my friend's birthday was not until November, I needed to get it finished, washed and blocked before the movers arrived on 2/9.  I bound off on 29/8. Phew!  I posted it to C's parents and they kept it until her birthday.  

And a close up: