Cast on, cast off.

Well! Somehow I totally missed that I hadn't posted about finishing my Ranunculus sweater way back in March. I actually wanted to take it outside to take a photo of it with some actual buttercups, but it's still a little early for those, so I settled on just the coastal meadow: 

It was a fun, quick knit which took me a week. I initially made the i-cord on the first sleeve I finished a little too tight, so I decided to rip back and redo it with larger needles and it turned out just fine. This was the first time I'd done an i-cord edge or short rows for sleeves, so that was fun too. I just have to figure out what to wear this sweater with!

And in other news, I actually cast on for another Breeze racerback a few days ago, but when I saw last night on IG that Sari Nordlund was coming up with a new racerback-style top with a lovely lace panel on the back, I decided to rip back and wait for her to publish the pattern - or maybe even try to become a test knitter. 

Also, because I was really feeling the Haapsalu lace love after finishing the scarf last week, I cast on another shawl. Whoops. The pattern on this one is called the Hepatica pattern from the book 'Knitted Shawls of Aasa Jõelaid' and I am using a gorgeous cobweb weight merino yarn in a stunning cornflower blue, which we sometimes also call 'flag blue', because ya know. It's not exactly the blue of Hepaticas (literally called blueflower in Estonian), but it was so lovely that I just had to get it. 

Next on my needles.

During my days off, after I finished sewing the scarf, I also made some progress on the Kuutar pullover. Currently I have finished the lovely lace yoke and separated the sleeves and body. I was a bit surprised that I had to knit quite a few rounds of stockinette after the lace to achieve the required length of the yoke, but then I realised that the yoke is somewhat longer than what I have become used to with other patterns.  Ah well. I an enjoying how soft these yarns are and also the fact that I'll be able to hide in plain sight everywhere with this very neutral-toned pullover :D

Once I finish the Kuutar, which hopefully is before the end of May when the KAL ends, I will once again cast on a garment for a family member: for my aunt's birthday this year, I gave her a card saying she could ask me to make her a sweater in her preferred design and colour and she picked the Sulo cardigan by Anna Johanna, so that's what I'm making for her. I already bought the yarn (Drops Merino Extra Fine) and the buttons, too. 

Aaannd of course I had to buy some yarn for myself as well while I was at it 🙈

I am planning to make a second Breeze racerback using a sea green cotton yarn (Safran from Drops) and also the Hali pullover by Leeni Hoimela at some point. I was also quite inspired by finishing the Haapsalu scarf, so I picked up an unfinished Haapsalu shawl and I'm looking through my Haapsalu lace books, pondering if I should make one to give as a gift to a dear friend of the family who is turning 70 in December.

State of the Project: Haapsalu scarf, part V: the finale!

 Well, this was quite the journey, wasn't it?

After sitting on the lace edge and not feeling like sewing it to the centre portion since last summer, I finally finished the scarf! 

I was very worried that the yarn would snap on the blocking frame after I've spent the whole day sewing, so I actually contacted Haapsalu Lace Centre to ask if I could send the scarf to them for sewing and blocking (I know for a fact that they will block your shawl for you for a fiver), but they said they don't provide a sewing service so I had to do it myself. I had some days off recently, so I decided to just go for it. I spent the better part of last Sunday sewing and I put the scarf on the blocking frame a few days ago.

Picture with my doggie for scale: 

And a slightly closer look at how the shawl looked on the frame:

This thing is huge! It measured 130x130 centimetres. The frame I use is a collapsible and adjustable blocking frame from a local company, which you can also use for blocking rectangular and triangular shawls/scarves. The set comes with eight bars and four connectors, which I used to make four very long bars so that the scarf would fit.

Last night, I took the scarf off the blocking frame and went through all the cast-on stitches (well over a thousand!) of the lace edging with a knitting needle to make them nice and round. I then pulled on each individual scallop (of which there are something like 120) to give them a nice shape, folded the scarf, and left it to rest under a pile of pillows. 

You're actually supposed to let the scarf rest for a bit longer, but I couldn't resist the urge to take a few glamour shots this morning 😁

Why the ring, you may ask? Well, because Haapsalu lace is supposed to be so fine that you have to be able to pull the scarf or shawl through a ring.

Anywho, I am chuffed to have finally finished it and I can't wait to wear it with my red dress!

Edited: BREAKING NEWS! The lady who wrote the book that this pattern comes from just liked my photo of the scarf that I posted on Facebook. I can now die happy. 

Some knitting surgery and a new sweater!

After I finished the Ranunculus sweater (which I promise is done, I just haven't got around to taking pretty pictures of it yet!), I was eager to start a new project and settled on a summer top to use some hand-dyed sock yarn from Woolmint that I had in my stash. The design is called Breeze Racerback, and it's by Jessie Mae.  However, when I finished making it to pattern, I decided it was a little too cropped for my taste and decided to do some knitting surgery. I cut the ribbing away from the body: 

I then added about 10 cm of stockinette and grafted it back to the body: 

And this is what the finished object looks like!

You can totally see where I grafted it, so I clearly something wrong, but hey ho I am banking on my décolletage and shoulders drawing the attention away from my waist :D 

This was a fun knit! I originally started with just one skein of a more fall yellow yarn, but ended up doing alternating rounds with a brighter, more summery yellow as well. I don't think it shows.

I had been very tempted to make the Kuutar pullover by Sari Nordlund ever since I first saw it on her IG, but I had mostly been resisting the urge to buy more yarn. However, after I saw her talk about the Kuutar KAL on her Youtube and an IG Live with the girls from Nurja yarn shop, I cracked and decided to go for it. I had enjoyed using Drops Flora so much when I made her Fleuriste pattern, so that's what I went with, as well as Drops Kid-Silk. This is my first time using mohair with another yarn and I love how saaawwft the alpaca and mohair feel together! I am also very much enjoying this lovely unassuming beige colour that goes with everything.