April 15, 2017

F.O. Goldfinch and Some Works in Progress

Until recently I was probably the only knitter who hadn't knit one of Andrea Mowry's patterns. Happily I can say that I just finished a pattern of hers called the Goldfinch Shawl.  This well written pattern was so much fun to knit. The shawl was knit in three colours of sport weight yarn, and I enjoyed every second of it.  I definitely see another Andrea Mowry pattern in my future.  Do you have any favourites?

Pattern:  Goldfinch
Designer:  Andrea Mowry
Yarn O-Wool O-Wash Sport (100% certified organic merino)
Colourway: Coral Reef, Porcupine, Wood Dove
O-Wool O-Wash Sport yarn
Needles: 4.0 m
Ravelry: my notes
Notes:  This was my first time working with O-Wool and I have to say that I was impressed.  I saw this yarn for the first time at Rhinebeck last year and loved it immediately. This yarn is so squishy, it comes in some gorgeous colours, and after being blocked is super soft.  A sweater knit in this yarn would be heavenly.  
I am one of those knitters who absolutely loves blocking my F.Os.  Here is the before and after of my Goldfinch Shawl.  Can you see how the lace just opened up after blocking?  It's like magic.  The shawl grew a bit and is now the perfect size, about 70 inches across.
Before blocking

After blocking

Now that I am done the shawl I am focusing on completing two spring cardigans.  The first one is the Goode Sweater by Julie Hoover knit in Purl Soho's Linen Quill, in the Oatmeal Grey colourway.  This yarn has such an interesting combination of fibers... 50% wool, 35% alpaca and 15%  linen/flax. I am so excited to see how this knits up and blocks.


Linen Quill by Purl Soho



The second cardigan I started is from Hannah Fettig's new book called Texture.  There are so many delicious sweaters in this book.  I predict that I will be knitting more than one pattern from this collection.  I chose the Eventide Cardi, a simple cardigan with a seed stitch stripe.  I thought that this subtle pattern would be the perfect choice for yarn I have had in my stash for some time.  The yarn I chose was String Theory's Caper Sock.  This yarn line was one of the first yarns I bought years ago when I got back to knitting.  The colourways are so pretty and it was hard to choose just one colour.  The colour I picked was Kiwi, the most gorgeous tonal green.  Knitting with it brings me joy.  This yarn is 80% merino, 10% cashmere and 10% nylon, a supersoft combination.




So I am going to try to focus on these two fingering weight cardigans for the next while and not get distracted by the many beautiful patterns that get published each week on Ravelry.  Wish me luck!  Happy knitting everyone!  Thanks for stopping by.


14 comments:

  1. beautiful shawl!! And I love your tops in progress, both are going to be perfect for spring/summer.

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    1. Thanks Julie! Summer of 2018 maybe! Fingering weight sweaters take a long time : )

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  2. That's a wonderful shawl! And your works in progress will be great too. I love that green!

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  3. Thanks for that pattern recommendation - your version is gorgeous! I've been looking for a sport weight shawl pattern and apparently am one of the few people who haven't knit an Andrea Mowry pattern so thanks for the suggestion!

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    1. Thank you Laura! You will really enjoy it...it's a lot of fun.

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  4. Love everything about that shawl!! And the tops are going to be gorgeous!!

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    1. Thanks Shannon! The shawl was a lot of fun to knit.

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  5. Always a joy to watch your knit progress! And I am so with you on blocking! I used to skip blocking as something boring and completely unnecessary, but after I saw how much difference it makes, I didn't miss it once!

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  6. I like the Eventide Cardi. It is going to be beautiful in that green yarn. Your shawl is very pretty too.

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