Anhinga

May 2014

This is a record breaker of a project. It took me about three years to complete, but it's done! And now I can remember so little about it, that there's not very much of use I can say…

Kemps had Bamboo tape on sale. I'd used it once before, for Haru, and despite finding ribbon/tape yarns not much fun to work with, I couldn't resist the cheapness. And it does generally have beautiful drape.

I wasn't blown away by the pattern support Rowan had managed to produce with this yarn, but a bit of searching about on rav found me Anhinga, and I loved Norah Gaughan anyway AND I was pregnant (and thought this shape would work well as maternity wear) so it was a no-brainer.

I modified the neckline because v-necks flatter my shape better than cowls. Other than that I think I pretty much followed the pattern as written.

Tape yarn is a terrible chore to sew up with, being so prone to splitting. I think this would be impossible to frog because of that. If I ever use it again, I'll definitely find a matching cotton thread to do the sewing up with.

Pattern: Anhinga by Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Rowan Bamboo Tape
Colour: Wedgewood
Amount: 8 Skeins
On ravelry: here

Lempster

January 2013

In 2009 I joined a ravelry group called "International Knit a Sweater a Month Dodecathlon" and over the course of the following year went on to complete 21 sweaters. Partly because I'm fairly obsessed with knitting anyway, but mostly because of the motivation, support and encouragement I got from the other members.

In 2010 and 2011 I did the dodecathlon all over again, and now, after two years of mostly knitting for babies and other people, I'm back. And I had to start with Lempster. It's a free Norah Gaughan pattern for heavens' sake. And whilst I was giving the pattern a first read through, my two year old looked at the model on the knitty website, and said “Mummy”. WIN.

This is a top-down, seamless knit, with some very unusual construction in order to give it set-in sleeve style sleeve caps, rather than the usual raglans. I got off to a slow start - it took me ages to work out how all the neck line and sleeve cap pieces fitted together, but then I always was a bit rubbish at thinking in 3D.

The pattern as written doesn't feature any waist shaping, but I went up to 5.00mm needles around the bust and added a few decreases and increases to make a waist line. Actually this ended up a bit baggy, and so I’m not sure I need have bothered. I'm toying with the idea of ripping back a few inches and re-doing the bit around the hips to make it more fitted. Probably won’t.

At the moment, the remaining 11 sweaters I have planned are: Dahlia (WIP), Frances (WIP), Poolside, Clara, Hitofude, Sassymetrical, Candy Stripes Raglan, Dorflinger, Baby Cables and Big Ones too, Habanera and Henley Perfected. I did have a bit of a habit of changing my mind rather a lot in previous years, mind you.

Pattern: Lempster by Norah Gaughan from Knitty Winter 2013
Yarn: Patons UK Wool Blend Aran
Colour: Airforce Blue Tweed
Amount: 7 Skeins
On ravelry: here