sing ditties to thee

This is Laura Chau's Bellevue cardigan, knit in Patonyle.

The idea was this would be done before summer and perfect for the air-conditioned office. However other projects intervened, as they always do, and it was only finished a few weeks ago. I've worn it a couple of times but now it is a bit cold for short sleeves. I quite like a short-sleeved cardigan over a sleeveless top on more moderate summer days or in air-conditioning. For me, this one in 4 ply wool is about the limit of warmth for a knit with short sleeves - though I may be able to layer it over a long sleeved t-shirt.

I think I knit the smallest size, but I added length, and the four 50g balls that I thought would be plenty wasn't quite enough. I had done all but the garter stitch edging when I had to put the call out for a bit more from some kind knitter. And in the end, if hadn't wanted a couple of extra rows on the edging, what I had left might have just about made it.

In the photo below, you may be able to see where the dyelot changes in the middle of neck edging. I was stubborn and tried to finish with the wool I had, when I knew I should have started the edging with the new ball. I had two different (neither matching) dyelots to choose from. I looked at them carefully under my daylight lamp and couldn't discern a difference. It's not at all visible in most lights, just bright sunlight, apparently.

Part of the reason I wanted a slightly wider band/edging was because I got a bit too enthusiastic with shoulder decreasing, so the shoulders were a couple of stitches narrower than they should have been.

One of these days I might knit a pattern in separate pieces (I know sometimes seams make for good structure - and a place to hide ends), but knitting seamlesssly in one piece is just so cool. I've done top-down raglans before but nothing bottom-up. The way the shoulders come together is really clever - great pattern all round.

The jury is still out on the Patonyle though. It's a sock wool with nylon, so it should wear well, but it's just so soft and went a little fuzzy as soon as I wore it. It's such an old favourite wool for Australian knitters though, that I have some faith it will be alright. I do have a clothes shaver (lint remover) but hope I don't have to do that too much.

The colour is funny - for all the years it's been sitting in the stash I thought it was really a grey, just a little greenish. But now it is in my wardrobe, it really doesn't look to me like a grey at all, more like a greyish olive. Luckily that works well for me.