As promised I'm back with a legit knitting post with a recently finished object! Tada! This is the much acclaimed Love Note from TinCan Knits. It's popularity is off the charts and everyone who makes it loves it, including me, this is my second. The pattern is perfect for a summer knit. I made this one with my all time favorite cotton yarn, Rowan Handknit Cotton. If you're looking to knit this summer with cotton but have your doubts if you'll like it--please try this one. It's velvety and so easy to knit, plus easy care--washer and dryer safe for me. The color is a lovely orchid that is stunning in real life but hard to capture with my camera without making my skin look too pink. The two photos below represent the color best. 

I made the same modifications for fit as I did on my first Love Note. You can find that info on my Ravelry project page that I'll link below along with pattern and yarn shopping links.  On a design note, I think it's best to have the lace section land high on the yoke, a few inches above the apex of the bust. It seems to be most flattering for all but it's just my personal preference.

Are you tired of sensationalized news leaving you feeling misinformed and miserable? I am. This came in my inbox yesterday and I found it so helpful: 4 Ways to Break Up with Breaking News (and why you should) by Courtney Carver from the Be More With Less Blog. If you get a chance to read it, I'd love to know your thoughts.

There is a new permanent addition in our entry way: a stroller. It's set up at all times and ready to go at a moment's notice. There is a medium sized bottom compartment that is filled to its brim with an assortment of hats and scarves, a cowl, a shawl, a blanket; all of them woolly and all knitted by me. There's also several baseball caps and a sunhat, a water bottle and an extra pair of sunglasses. When we leave for our morning walk we bundle up in layers, then an hour or two later, as the morning eases closer to early afternoon and the sun begins to burn through the clouds, we start to remove the layers and often end up wearing baseball caps and sun hats. Since Carter has my cowl on most mornings, I thought he should be my cowl model. He loves that cowl and when I ask him if his neck feels chilly he'll say, "Yes Grammy. I think I need the cowl." He's TWO! This is what happens when grammy is a knitter--a two year old knows what a cowl is.

For said cowl I used approximately 300 yards each of Spincycle's Dyed In The Wool sport in Ghost Ranch and Rowan's Superfine Merino 4 ply in Marble. I absolutely loved knitting it. It's an easy going mosaic stitch pattern from adorable Andrea Mowry. Both yarns are bouncy and lovely to knit plus scrupulously soft against bare skin.

I knitted one less repeat to make the cowl smaller and lie closer against the neck. I didn't need a loopy cowl for show, I needed one that would stay close to the neck to keep me warm. 

I named my cowl the Santa Cruz Mountains Cowl because that is the mountain range we see when we are on our little walk. 

LINKS

Andrea Mowry's pattern for the Montana Mountain Cowl

My Ravelry project page

Spincycle Dyed in the Wool

Rowan Superfine Merino 4 Ply

Hello! This is a quick post to share a sweater I finished a few months ago and never got around to blogging about. Fiskur is knit top down in the round with the most fun and fast little colorwork pattern made by slipping stitches in a magical way so it creates little flying fish around the yoke. Such a fun knit! I remember modifying the neck quite a lot and opting for just a simple crew neckline. I added a few German short rows at the back neck to raise it a bit. I made the smallest size which was 31" bust, but was able to make it closer to a 34" because my gauge was 22 sts. per 4" instead of 24. Having a larger gauge will make a sweater larger, so you will have to knit a smaller size if you want it to fit. The yarn was Rowan Baby Cashsoft Merino, their answer to Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashermerino. Rowan says this yarn is a sport but I really think it's more of a DK weight. The fabric was way too tight at 24 st. per 4" and looked better at 22". That's why I knit the smallest size! The yarn is lovely to knit and baby soft next to the skin. On my sweater the sleeves were too blousy! I had to heavily decrease them as I was knitting them down but was happy enough with the fit in the end. The sleeves also came out too short, my miscalculation, but before I add an inch to the cuff I'm going to block it first to see if I can't add an inch that way. It's a superwash yarn so should be very stretchy out of a water bath. Because of that I have a love/hate affair with superwash yarns: love that they can be washed in the washing machine, but dislike their stretchy tendencies. I usually pop superwash sweaters in the dryer for a bit to get them back into shape. Either way, fixing too-short cuffs is an easy fix. It's a casual and warm everyday type of sweater and I'm happy with it. Take care! xo Kristen

My Ravelry project page

Purchase the pattern, Fiskur by Christiane Burkhard, here

Purchase the yarn, Rowan Baby Cashsoft Merino, here

To make a comment, please scroll down to the bottom of this post 

or click here if you are reading this as an email or through a blog reader.

My Love Note. 💕 It took me a wee while to jump on the bandwagon, but when I realized I had the yarn already in my stash and knowing Love Note would be a quickie, I did jump. The pattern IS a quickie for sure and very easy. The lace bit is a snap and would be ok for a beginner. I was in between a 34" and 38"; what I wanted was a perfect 36". I did not want the lace to stretch across my bust so had to have some positive ease but didn't want an oversized look either. I also did not want the lace to go down into the bust area. I cast on for a 38" and used the following modifications to achieve a 36".

The gauge was 16 sts. per 4" and by changing my gauge to 20 sts. per 4" I was able to tighten up the pattern (and tighten up the fabric too which I prefer). I also cast on less stitches at the sleeve separation. The neck is worked last. The sweater is knit top-down with a provisional cast on. When the sweater is finished, you pick up the neck stitches and customize away, creating a wide neck or crew neck or anything in between. To achieve a crew neck I knit two rounds, then worked a few sets of German short rows at the back to raise the back neck, then knit a few more rounds making decreases (at first I made too many and I couldn't get it over my head!) then knit my k1, p1 ribbing. I was chilly when I was knitting the neck and felt I wanted my neck to be nice and warm. If I decide later to make it a bit more open and wide, it will be an easy fix. I'll wear it a time or two before I decide. I also added length to the sleeves and body.

As per pattern I held two yarns together, a lace weight and a fingering weight. The lace was a frothy strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Cream. The fingering was Tusken Knits Fife in the pinky color, Cordelia. It has waves of mottled color with splotches of a blacky-brown. Adding the KSH softened the colors and gave the fabric a hazy pink sky effect. The two worked beautifully together, but then again, adding KSH to any yarn is a good thing! 

Sending love out to my readers. I hope you are having a good good day! xo Kristen

my Ravelry project page

purchase Love Note pattern by Tin Can Knits here or here

purchase Tusken Knits Yarn here