Joining the Yoke

I finally got around to joing the sleeves to the body of my Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I must admit I hate this process. It is always awkward, at least until you have done quite a few rows, to knit around with there being no movement in the sleeve stitches. But I do love the no seaming effect!

I still have quite a long way to go until I reach the Celtic Horizontal Cables that comprise the tangled yoke design. Reading through the chart there are a few stitches that I need to review, for example creating multiple stitches out of one in the middle of the row. I need to check and see what is the recommended method of doing this. I'm sure this will be a challenge, but I'm still looking forward to it.

I'm loving the yarn more and more as I go on this project. The color is so deep and gorgeous, the little flecks of royal blue and jade green really give it life. I have always liked the color green, but now that I am using greens I wouldn't normally reach for, I'm realising my love runs deep. It is also a credit to the Bendigo Woollen Mills who make such gorgous wools. Their rustic range is my favourite, and this yarn being Colonial, I adore too.

I have also discovered that I like the fabric that is created using a 5ply on 3.75mm needles. At first I thought it would be too loose see-through, but now that I have so much of the cardigan knit, I can see that this is not the case. The fabric is light, but dense enough to be substantial. I'm sure I will knit many more garments in 5ply, I don't like the garments that are 10ply and heavy. I also think in our weather environment, there isn't much need for heavy woollen clothing anyway.

Sweater Vest Finished

I finished the sweater vest almost a week ago, last Sunday to be exact. But it has taken me this long to take photos. I am extremely pleased with how it has turned out, not only the correct size, but lovely and thick and soft too. The cabling has made the fabric very stretchy with is another bonus. The ribbing at the neck and arm holes also turned out better than I expected. I chose not to count the stitches around the arm and decided to just pick up as many stitches as would look best, and I was all prepared to rip out if they looked too different. But they look fine. I can't wait til Christmas when my father-in-law gets to see it! I really hope it is what he wanted.

So now that the sweater vest is completed, I have cast on for my mother-in-law's wave shawl. The colour is pale eucalypt and it turns out I really like the colour, it is not as yellow based as I thought. I think I will have plenty of this yarn left over, I tend to overbuy ALL the time. But I think it may go well with the Oceania, (which is a dark green and the yarn I'm using for my tangled yoke) and I may make a Tempest cardigan. Although the wools are both 5ply (sport) I think they'll go with the pattern well. And it will mean I have enough yarn for another project without having to shop!

I hope to buy a second hand pot soon specifically for dying. Then I can get started on dying the cotton I have into colours I would like more. So this week has the tangled yoke flying along, I have finished the body to the arms and almost completed one arm, and have begun the wave shawl. Not much progress there because I really want a light weight cardigan now that the weather is heating up a bit. I should have no problem finishing the shawl for Christmas as we still have a couple of months to go. Thankfully!