Good morning from a very sunny Suffolk! It’s just beautiful out there this morning; spring has definitely sprung. I hope those of you who celebrated had a wonderful Easter. Ours was spent at home with family where everyone (bar the vegetarians!) stuffed themselves silly on roast lamb with all the trimmings, followed by lemon cheesecake and then Easter eggs; perfick!
Although it is still school holidays, the Mr has gone in for today to do extra work with some of the students, so my girls and I have a busy day of gardening planned, and then a trip to the cinema to see Cinderella this evening, I’ve heard great things about the costumes so can’t wait to see it! Before I get planting, I’ve managed to grab half an hour to myself, while the girls are digging for worms, to share with you two rather pretty woollies that have found a new home overseas.
The pretty pair was commissioned by a thoroughly charming lady in New Zealand. She chose gorgeous patterns and opted for two seriously scrumptious shades of wool and I truly enjoyed working with her to create her vintage inspired pieces.
First up is a pattern that you may have seen before on my blog as I knitted it back in 2014. It’s a Bestway pattern from the very early 1940’s and is for a close fitting jumper with a neat little collar in a mock smock design; try saying that after you've had a tipple or two!
It was knitted in King Cole Merino Blend 4 ply in a shade called fern. I’ve used King Cole in the past and haven’t been overly impressed with the quality, especially their big value range, but I was pleasantly surprised with the Merino Blend and it was beautiful to work with. The colour range is great, the wool doesn’t split, and it is so super soft to the touch, and not at all itchy.
When this one is knitted, the pattern doesn’t really show. The pieces come out really rather small and it isn’t until you block and press it that the design can be seen in all its glory.
Wool - King Cole Merino Blend 4 Ply
Weight used - 240g
Time taken - 79 days
Size - 32" bust
The second was knitted from a pattern from the Wearing History range, which I bought on Etsy. Called Wood Violet, the pattern has been reformatted from the original and all the instructions have been retyped into 1 neat A4 page.
This one was knitted in the King Cole Merino Blend 4 ply as well, but this time in a gorgeous shade called damson. I’m a little bit in love with this shade. It is so divine, a real rich purple with a beautiful depth of colour. For some reason, King Cole has apparently done away with this shade, so if you like it and see it anywhere, snap it up quickly, because you may not get another chance. I have added a few balls to my stash for future use!!
The main body of this jumper was worked in stocking stitch, so knitted up super quickly, but the yoke was an entirely different affair! I like to be honest when I’ve had problems with patterns, and I have to admit that this one reduced me to tears of sheer frustration!
A fellow blogger said, when I asked for her help in working out the pattern, that the instructions were like an algebra equation! I got in a pickle when the pattern said “p1, 0, p1…….p two 0’s together” because nowhere in the pattern did it tell me what “0” actually was! By a process of trial and error, I got there in the end and my finished yoke looked like the picture on the pattern, so I was happy with the end result.
Unable to find vintage buttons in the exact shade of purple, I opted for original 1940’s buttons in black.
Wool - King Cole Merino Blend 4 Ply
Weight used - 220g
Time taken -
Size - 32" bust
I posted the jumpers off just 11 days ago, and by the powers of tracked and signed for delivery (it’s always worth paying the extra postage), the woollies have been safely received by their new owner who, thankfully, is over the moon with them.
If you fancy giving either of the patterns a go yourself, they are both for sale on Etsy. The Bestway pattern can be found in my Etsy shop here, and the Wearing History pattern can be found here.
xx