It's (finally) a wrap!

The finished lace wrap cardigan

This time I have a really good excuse for not posting for a while, I've been in New York. We had a great holiday, saw lots of cool stuff and had a good time. More about that in a later post when I have sorted out our photos.

Before we left I finished a cardigan I'd been working on, literally, for years. It's a clover lace wrap cardigan in 4 ply cotton, with bell sleeves. I really loved the pattern, which is from Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller, and started it, as I mentioned, several years ago. Because of the lace pattern, fine yarn and my tendency to get distacted with other things I would work on it for a while and then abandon it for months at a time while I worked on other projects. Anyway, I finally finished it before we went away, dyed it purple (me and white are not a good combination) and instead of giving it a knitted neckband and ties I used ribbon.

Detail of the clover lace pattern

This was a good move in terms of saving time but a bad move in that it left it too wide, the cardigan kept sliding off my shoulders. So, I put a little tuck in the back and this seems to have solved the problem. In retrospect I probably should have knitted the neck band but I was so desperate to finish the thing that I just couldn't face it. Typically, I've finished this lightweight cotton wrap just as the weather has started to change, but ther's always layering!

A little tuck in the back

Knitting a rainbow

I love to knit. I learnt when I was 19 and needed a piece of knitting to destroy for a piece of work I was doing at art college so I got my mum to teach me and I really took to it. Since then I've knitted a lot; sometimes for my art but more often for pleasure. I find it very therapeutic. I go into a kind of zen state when I knit and I find I often have my best ideas when I'm knitting away and often an issue I've been struggling with in a piece of work will suddenly resolve itself as I knit and purl. I find that knitting occupies my mind just enough to keep worries and thoughts of daily life at bay whilst leaving it free enough to explore the creative pathways of my mind . Plus, I like making stuff and I love that with two sticks and a bit of string you can create pretty much anything.

Beautiful colours!

Detail of the lace pattern

My current project is from Knit Magazine (issue 36) and is called the kaleidoscope vest, it's a simple sleeveless cardigan type thing. It's a really simple pattern so is great just to pick up and put down. I'm using Rico Poems sock yarn which is a beautiful self striping yarn in gorgeous colours and I'm working it on circular needles (but not in the round). I'm just over halfway through the vest and am looking forward to completing it. Unlike in my art work I often like to use very bright colours or bold combinations.