How the yarns wore part 2

Three of the yarns featured in this post

Back in 2014 I did a follow up post on how the various yarns I had used for garments had faired after a bit of wear and wash. When I am choosing the yarn for my next project, I always read any reviews that may have been posted but these are, for the most part, written just after a project has been finished and so only cover the workability, feel and colour etc. which is all very well and good but so often I’ve bought yarn based on these good reviews, only to find out that in the real world, the yarn doesn’t fair so well. This is what led me to write my original ‘how the yarns wore‘ post and I have commented here and there about subsequent yarns I’ve used but I thought it might be helpful to do another follow up post on the yarns used since the 2014 post.

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Boxy T-Shaped Sweater in Tranquil

So pleased with how well the seams have matched

Knitting has been a little on the back burner during the summer months, as jobs around the garden take priority, particularly watering which can take 2 to 3 hours each night but I have been beavering away in my spare time on a project for Eldest Mudlets’ birthday. I found the pattern, Wendy 5896, months ago and whilst I think it has a bit of a retro look about its’ shape, I really thought it would do nicely for my first born child and would be handy for slightly cooler evenings, during her imminent trip to Portugal.

Little Mudlets Sirdar Summer Stripes cardigan

4 rows of garter stitch edging and 2 sets of pattern rows

After careful consideration, I made the decision to order the pattern and yarn for Little Mudlets cardigan from Deramores online shop. It was a difficult decision because I do like to support my local shop where possible.

You see the problem is the yarn! My local shop only stocks a very limited selection of yarns and a significant number of these are baby yarns which is great if you are knitting for new arrivals but not so good for older children and adults.

More Mudlet makes

With my latest knitting project completed, thoughts turned to ‘what next’ and I decided that it was Little Mudlets turn to have something knitted. So I trawled the Sirdar site to see what patterns they had.

There wasn’t a whole lot of choice, if I’m honest and at one point I was beginning to think that I might have to order online again, as my local craft shop only has a small number of suppliers (Sirdar being one of them). I do like to support my local shop where possible but it can be very limiting.

Top in Sirdar Americana DK: Eldest Mudlets Christmas present

Unveiled: Eldest Mudlets Christmas gift

Well here it is, the oft mentioned but not as yet seen knitted project which was destined for Eldest Mudlets Christmas box. It is actually the 21st as I write this and so I don’t yet know what reaction I will get from her in respect of this particular gift but I do so hope she likes it.

One down and a sneaky peek

A little bit of sparkle

Over the last few weeks I have been slotting the knitting of the little green top in whenever I have had a few minutes spare and today I can declare it finally blocked and finished. Considering I wasn’t working from a pattern and I had no idea how far my 3 balls of yarn would actually get me (especially as one of these was already partially used), I am really rather pleased with how this project has turned out.

Christmas knitting progress

I think I’ll call this cardigan ‘Fern Forrest Fairies’

I haven’t had much time over the last week to really get on with knitting Little Mudlets Christmas top but I have finally finished the back piece and have cast on and commenced the Fern lace on the Left Front.

Obviously, not having a pattern to knit to has been a challenge, as I try to devise a pretty pattern (Little Mudlet is a girly girl) whilst managing to keep the size and shape correct. I chose to do 2 blocks of the Fern lace before using 4 rows of reverse stocking stitch to create a clear divide between the Fern and the next pattern block.

Little Mudlets Christmas Present

I really like the gentle scalloped edge

With my cardigan finished and the wool for Eldest Mudlets’ Christmas present not yet here, I found myself casting about for a suitable pattern with which to use up the remaining Sirdar Country Style DK that I’d used for my top. I had approximately 75g of wool left over from the 9 balls I’d bought and I knew that Kate had ordered a bag of 10 and so probably still had the other one in her shop (she did – I checked).

This gave me 125g of yarn and so the challenge was to find a pattern that wouldn’t use more than that but would produce a cardigan for Little Mudlet.

Cardigan in Sirdar Country Style: Blocked and finished

After blocking – all finished

Blocking is one of my least favourite parts of knitting something, although to be fair, I don’t really know why as it isn’t exactly difficult, just fiddly and time consuming. However, especially in the case of a garment which has a lot of lace detail, like my cardigan, the transformation in the look of a finished piece and a blocked and finished piece can be quite dramatic and makes the process so worth while.

Cardigan in Sirdar Country Style: Sleeves, bands and sewing the seams

151 stitches and a lot of knitted rows, makes for quite a heavy load.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I finished the last body section of my cardigan and started the first of the sleeves and in that time I have posted a few blog entries, of which none are related to this project and so you may be forgiven for thinking that I had abandoned my knitting for the time being. However, in between gardening and seed saving tasks, hoovering, cooking and dish washing, I have in fact been extremely busy, beavering away at the sleeves and I finally got the second of these finished just yesterday (Wednesday).