Sunday, October 22, 2006

Shepherdess yarn sweater


This is an unusual sweater because all the yarns used in it are naturally colored: not dyed. I came across "Shepherdess yarns" by pure chance, and enjoyed their selection and the quality of yarns tremendously. Debby (the owner) was very helpful, and sent me samples of her yarns to decide on sweater's color palette. I used quite a few colors: Sheep Heathers in Chocolate, Honey Beige, Rose Grey (gorgeous!), Oatmeal; and Alpaca Blend in Mahogany and Cinnamon. I can't describe the softness and incredible feel of these lanolin-rich yarns. I made two other projects using these yarns: a hat for my son and a vest for my husband - both my designs. I am now finishing a shrug using the leftover Chocolate yarn, and considering getting some black yarn for another sweater.
The cuffs of the sweater presented were inspired by Estonian cast-on techniques from the book "Folk Knitting in Estonia".

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Cardigan "Lotus"

































This project took a little more than a month and a lot of frustration: I had to start over a couple of times because I made a mistake in sizing.
The yarn used is Jo Sharp DK wool in color "Brocade" - one of my favorite yarns. There are crochet details on sleeves, and I learned how to crochet buttons!