Isla

"Isla" from Rowan's A Season's Tale

A few months ago, I started making the Isla sweater from Rowan's A Season's Tale. I stopped after I completed about an inch of ribbing when I realized I wasn't enjoying it. The problem was that I couldn't stand the Yorkshire Tweed 4-ply yarn that I was using. It's not a bad yarn or anything, it just felt dry and slow to knit. I will save this yarn for a future project with a specific pattern that demands tweed. That will be more suitable. I do understand that Kim Hargreaves probably intended this sweater to be tweedy, but her designs are not only beautiful, they're versatile.

I was just talking about Isla with Blossom the other day and that conversation reinvigorated my interest for this beautiful raglan sweater! I'm looking forward to making it again. But this time, with a different yarn. So I went to Purl and bought some RYC Cashsoft 4-ply in a wonderful shade of rosy pink and a dark brown as the constrasting color used for the hem.

RYC Cashsoft 4-ply "mosaic" & "bark"

I will very likely begin making this as soon as I'm done with Jarrett. Speaking of Jarrett, here's a progress photo. The back is done and I'm in the middle of a sleeve right now.

Sweater for husband

I went to Purl the other day and purchased some Cascade 220. I'm using it to make a cardigan sweater for Paul. The pattern I chose is Kim Hargreaves' "Jarrett", from Vintage Knits.

The pattern calls for a DK weight yarn, but I got gauge using the Cascade, which is a worsted weight yarn. And I even went up a needle size, too. Yeah, I'm a tight knitter.

I want to knit this as neat as possible. I really want this to look good. So I used a tubular cast-on instead of my usual long tail cast-on. It didn't take me too long to learn it, and it does make a big difference. It gives a nice and straight edge. Looks good with the ribbing. I like it!

It would be nice to have this completed in time for the holidays but I'm not going to give myself too much pressure. Whenever I give myself a deadline, it hinders productivity. So I'll just have fun with it.