January 2015
Oh how I miss those winter days when one can just cast on sweater after sweater with complete abandon, safe in the knowledge that they will come in extremely useful. I wasn't made for warm weather.
Two of my favourite pattern collections of recent times have been Stranded Knits by Ann Kingstone and The Shetland Trader Book Two by Gudrun Johnston. For a little while at the start of this year, the latter was unavailable in the UK due to changes in the EU tax system. However, (and not meaning to suggest for a minute that anyone is influencing anyone else's work) I did notice something of a similarity between Gudrun's Nikka Vord and Ann's Corona Borealis.
In fact the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that all I needed to do to make a perfect hybrid of the two was choose the right colours, add a few stripes, and make Corona's neckline a little higher. So that is what I did.
Having various shades of Felted Tweed left over from Hedgerow, this project didn't set me back a great deal of money. The main colour is a shade called Camel, which I bought using a John Lewis voucher I'd been given for Christmas. The stripes are in two shades of blue - 170 Seafarer and 152 Watery. The stars start off in a brown shade called Treacle, but then shift slightly to a dark purple called Bilberry. Running right through the middle is a pop of yellow and blue one row wide, made using Watery again, and a yellow shade called Mineral. Having recently finished Hedgerow, I was feeling something of an expert with colour, although the palate of Felted Tweed is so pretty I'm not sure you can go far wrong.
The end result is one of the most wearable sweaters I've got, and I've even had some success machine washing it, but only on the very lowest temperature on a wool wash and with nothing else inside the machine with it. Felted Tweed is one of those yarns - if you're not very careful with it, it can very easily felt and shrink.
Pattern: Corona Borealis by Ann Kingstone
Size: Custom (34/36)
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed dk
Colours: Camel, Seafarer, Watery, Treacle, Bilberry and Mineral
Needle 3.00mm
On ravelry: here
Oh how I miss those winter days when one can just cast on sweater after sweater with complete abandon, safe in the knowledge that they will come in extremely useful. I wasn't made for warm weather.
Two of my favourite pattern collections of recent times have been Stranded Knits by Ann Kingstone and The Shetland Trader Book Two by Gudrun Johnston. For a little while at the start of this year, the latter was unavailable in the UK due to changes in the EU tax system. However, (and not meaning to suggest for a minute that anyone is influencing anyone else's work) I did notice something of a similarity between Gudrun's Nikka Vord and Ann's Corona Borealis.
In fact the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that all I needed to do to make a perfect hybrid of the two was choose the right colours, add a few stripes, and make Corona's neckline a little higher. So that is what I did.
Pattern: Corona Borealis by Ann Kingstone
Size: Custom (34/36)
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed dk
Colours: Camel, Seafarer, Watery, Treacle, Bilberry and Mineral
Needle 3.00mm
On ravelry: here
