Service resumed

Contrary to appearances on this blog, there has been knitting action around here. I've just been too busy or exhausted to blog about it.

First up, my sister's vest is up, and she has pronounced herself satisfied. I hope she gets lots of wear out of it.



Although a simple enough knit, this item required a lot of finishing with armbands, buttonbands and seams. I think this would have joined the pile of UFOs if my sister hadn't been so persistent in pushing me to finish it. Hmm, maybe I need to get her to 'adopt' a project at a time, and push me to finish it.

I used my butterfly clips to hold the eges together for seaming, and found this worked really well. I also tried an invisible sewn bind off technique from IK, but it was very slow and quite fiddly, so I reverted back to a regular bind off.

Next, I've cast on for the moonstone cardigan using the Manos silk blend I picked up at the iknit London day. I started out using Addis, but found it a bit difficult to pick up the unplied yarn without splitting, so have switched to Knitpicks options needles.

The pattern has a slightly unusual construction. The lace edging is knit first, all in one piece. The back and sides are then split and knit separately to the top. I've finished the back, and am halfway through the left side.



As it gets colder, I am wondering whether 3/4 sleeves are really a good idea, as I know they will restrict the usefulness of the cardigan. On the other hand, I don't have enough yarn for full length sleeves, and am concerned that adding them may unbalance the pattern, as the body is also slightly cropped.

Finally, I made up the big knit rug. It was surprisingly quick, and the result is wonderfully squishy. So much so, that my husband is now hankering after one for himself.