Like Butter

Playing catch up is hard to do! But it's my own fault and I can't really explain the inconsistency. One thing that remains constant, though, is my love for Madelinetosh yarns, especially the Pashmina, a sport weight blend of Merino (75%), Silk (15%) and Cashmere (10%). The hand is a luscious as Amy's dazzling palette of colors.

For sweaters, I have learned, it is best to keep to the shaded solids. They hint at shifts of light but don't distract from design elements, like lace or cabling.

I now have two Pashmina sweaters in my wardrobe and enough for one more in the stash. And I LOVE them!

Knit up last Fall, Audrey in Unst, by Gudrun Johnston is a great little cardigan from the Twist Collective's Fall 2009 collection. It's a bottom up cardigan knit in one piece with a bib of lace, twisted rib, i-cord finish and fantastic shoulder shaping.

As usual, I added some short row shaping for the bust. The cropped shape works really well because I didn't have to deal with all the (non) hip issues!

Were I to make this again (and I might since it's a great pattern and the lace can easily be swapped for a different design,) I would make the sleeves a bit longer. I love the 3/4 length but these are a bit short.

Audrey in Unst, by Gudrun Johnston

Yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina

Colorway: Dahlia

Amount: less than 3 hanks, alternated three hanks at a time

Needles: 3.25 mm, 3.5 mm, 3.75 mm

Mods: made smaller size to accommodate my gauge, added short row shaping at the bust

Buttons: M&J Trimming

My tour de force, however, is Brunhilde, a test knit I did for Kristi Holaas (53Chevy over on Rav). Brunhilde is a top down, raglan sweater full of amazing cable goodness!

The instructions and charts were so clear, I highly recommend the pattern.

Since the cable panels on the front and back match up, adding short rows was a bit of a challenge but I managed to get in one full pattern repeat and ended up with only one less wrapped stitch than I would have hoped for. Also, because of the raglan nature I was able to add a couple more rows before I separate the sleeves from the body. I didn't want to go too wide there and end up with giant arm holes!

Here are some modeled shots taken at the bris of the Cheerleader's new baby boy! Mazel Tov!

Once again, I went for shorter sleeves and a cropped waist with the bottom band starting at the hip bone.

Brunhilde by Kristi Holaas

Yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina

Colorway: Sugar Plum

Needles: 3.25 mm

Amount: 4 hanks (I had 50 g left over) alternated three hanks at a time

And the sweater knitting continues. I'm still working on getting those FO shots! And my newest sweater, Dark & Gothic, is past the halfway mark. I've got the collar and sleeves to go. Hoping to finish it by the weekend. I'll keep you posted.