Some recent knitting projects

 It's been a while since I shared any knitting, so I thought I'd write a little post today to talk about a few projects that I've finished so far this year. 

The first was actually mainly knitted last year, but the finishing touches were put on hold while I worked on some gift knitting and so were only completed this year.

The pattern I used here is the Rainbow Cardi (Ravelry link - pointing this out in case you're affected by photosensitivity) by Yelena Dasher from the book Mini Skein Knits (Ravelry link). It's essentially a very simple stocking stitch cardigan, made much more special by all the colourful stripes. The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn and, as you can imagine, all of the stripes are a great use for mini skeins and leftovers. 

For my version, I used West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply in the Milk Bottle colourway as the main colour (I used about 150g), and the stripes are all leftovers from various socks and shawls. It was fun to knit as you always had the incentive of getting to add in the next colour. I was very pleased to discover that I had the perfect buttons already - by some massive fluke, my button jar has done remarkably well at providing me with the right buttons for projects when we've been in various lockdowns and in-person button shopping hasn't been possible! 

I love how this cardi turned out and it's already been worn a fair few times since I finished it in January.

Next up we have my Lesedi shrug, a pattern by Noma of Bigger Than Life Knits. The relaxed shrug style is kind of like a shawl that won't fall off your shoulders, and the fact that it uses chunky yarn means that it knits up pretty quickly and it's beautifully squishy. Wearing it kind of feels like a hug! 

The yarn I used is King Cole Chunky Tweed in the colourway Skye. It's a mainly acrylic yarn so is pretty affordable, but does also contain 25% wool for added warmth. I love the combination of the main navy colour with the rainbow tweed neps. 

I made this specifically to wear when I'm working at my desk as my office gets sun in the morning but not in the afternoon so I often need to add an extra layer as the day goes on. The Lesedi is perfect for that so it's another winner for me!

Lastly we have a project I finished just last week. The yarn (Willow & Lark Nest in the colourway Bougainvillea) for this project had been in my stash for quite some time. I originally had a cardigan pattern picked out for this yarn, but whenever I went to cast it on something was telling me that the plan wasn't quite right so I had a rethink. I decided to use the Hoxton pattern by Martin Storey/Rowan - I've just realised it's available as a free pattern on Love Crafts if you fancy giving it a try (I used a pattern booklet that I bought in a bundle from a charity shop). 

This pattern is knit in pieces and seamed, and the combination of the simple garter stitch with the single large cable on the front and back was very relaxing to knit. I think it works really well in this yarn, and I'm very glad that I decided to abandon the original cardigan idea in favour of this sweater.

The only slight problem I have with this sweater is that I've made my standard mistake of finishing it just as the weather starts warming up so I probably won't be wearing it much in the near future. Never mind - that just means I'll have it to look forward to come autumn! Now to try and get warm weather knits finished in time to wear them in the right season - wish me luck!