Posting on a monday?

Yes, I had a series of unfortunate events which led to me going to the shops this morning to purchase a new SD card for the camera (in the event I bought two, my usual 16G and a 4G back up) and due to the insults my camera went through to remove the damaged card yesterday I was keen to ensure that it didn't need a trip to the camera Dr.

I came home and took photos of the first things I could think of, my current wips.

I was thinking I should be showing you a bit more of the process anyway.

Firstly, I was sent some boucle to play with , it is spun from merino and alpaca, is soft and cuddly and I immediately had an idea to use it for cuddly hoodie jackets for the littlies, an intarsia tummy patch and ears make it adorable! This one is more along the colourway of a Care Bear (ears under construction), but I have a little Red Panda, Frog and Sun Bear in the pipeline. I think the yarn producers will be happy with the results.

I know what you are thinking 

"Jussi, you never do frou-frou, what is happening, has the world gone MAD!"

No, I think this hoodie is still quite a simple design, yes there are ears but sometimes you just have to give babies what they want, and babies want ears. I showed this to my 3 year old Grandson and he said "so cute!" I'm happy, it has the kiddie seal of approval.

Next up, I have been wanting to create a pattern for a plain cardigan for a long time (maybe as an antidote to the previous sweater), something that can be enhanced by the knitter if desired, but basically a neat little cardi with a few designer touches.

I'm not sure if you can see it in these photos, but just above the stitch marker is a triangle, this is a darling wee gusset, one of my favourite knitting touches, but one I have left out of patterns in the past due to technical issues.

But this time I think I have nailed it, the sweater will have short row sleeves which will grow until they incorporate the gusset, then it will ease out and into the sleeve decreases. Sometimes design is all about letting ideas grow and mature.

The yarn I am using for the cardigan is beautiful, it is White gum wools a Tasmanian merino, incredibly soft and a joy to knit, the ball actually bounces when you drop it!

The colour palette is sophisticated and the yarn has just a hint of crispness (not hard or itchy) which gives a stunning stitch definition. The yarn will be available more widely soon.

Finally, the Milse dress is at the tech edit stage, just a few more photos to take and it will be ready for publication.

have a lovely Monday everybody xx