Oh I love this one. A raglan sweater that has just enough of a stitch motif on the raglan increases and on the sides, giving the structure I like. The more I knit sweaters, the more I look for a pattern structure that will prevent stretching of stitches on the shoulders. I realise I really dislike that. And Cozy X by Hinterm Stein perfectly fits that requirement !
This pattern is not difficult, well written, with all the necessary instructions, and even a few tips if you knit off gauge. I usually do that ! I did not use the tips and went my way, as usual. I used the M size instructions as my yarn and gauge were much bigger than the model and samples. I think I even could have used a smaller size for a more fitted sweater. I may do that next time.
A boxy line for a warm piece that will fit over another sweater, shirt or dress. I will knit this pattern again as the motifs on the raglan, on the sides and on the sleeves get lost in the mohair fuzziness . I even did not bother with the motif on the sleeves. I will choose a yarn with a better stitch definition next time, to show the beautiful design.
Surprise, I had an impulse cast on, out of frustration, with these screaming loud colours that are not at all in my own colour range and habits. A symbol of my inner screams. Life is tough sometimes..
For context, I wanted to use some of my mohair leftovers, from the Aulon and the Poitou farms. I have two sweaters quantities left, one blue and one green, the pink (that looks red on the pictures) and yellow are leftovers from other project. I also had a line up that included the leftovers from my Agnes Jumper, greys, icy blue and white.
Around the same time, Jackie Rose, half of the famous Cady Jax Knits YouTube Channel, released her Saturday Shrug pattern that immediately got fame and traction on social media. So I dived into my mohair and placed the colours next to each other. They looked OK striped up on my bed.
Once I had used the first four colours, green – pink – yellow – blue, it became obvious that the colder greys, blue and white were not fitting in. This very primary colour scheme was strange if I placed the colder colours on top. I continued, using all the pink I had. I also wanted to finish with the green, so I stopped when I could not add a pink repeat.
I made two modifications (other than adjusting for the lighter yarn I was using, and smaller needles) : a little shaping at the bottom (wider) so that the shrug does not slide up when I move, and one knit row when changing colours, for not seeing the two different colour strands on the purl stitches as I do not like that.
Not quite in my habits, and I think that a few loud pieces can fit into a mostly blue colour block wardrobe. I do have some neutral browns, beige, red and black, and a few brighter pieces such as the pink cotton tee or my second Manhattan Hat, that find their place in my rather monochromatic preferences. So will this Saturday Shrug.
My shrug is light, warm, unexpectedly easy to wear, and on constant rotation.
I am casting on a second one with the grey, blue and white mohair as soon as my current WIP list has diminished !
I’m on a small objects stroll and was itching to cast on something with this bright pink mohair from Ferme d’Aulon en Pyrénées that I had in my stash since Summer 2020. I had made cowls for my coworkers as Christmas presents that year – do you remember Covid ? I had to have the cowls shipped to my friends even though they live quite close to me. If you want pictures of this wonderful village the mohair comes from, please check my post from Summer 2021.
I had 1.5 skein left sitting at the top of my mohair stash, right before my eyes, because I wanted to use them, but for what ? That was the question.
I really should listen to myself, and cast-on small sizes for hats. But no, I made the medium size. It ended up being too big, of course, and I was very frustrated. It is impossible to unravel this very hairy mohair.
I decided to gently felt it, on medium warm water with a regular laundry in my washing machine. It came out felted, not too much, and still a tinsy bit too big. So I placed two invisible elastic threads, one at the bottom of the hat and the other at the fold of the brim. Now it fits me perfectly and I wear it every day. The felted mohair offers a good protection against the cold wind fwiw.
I am so so happy ! Add a bright warm hat to your wardrobe and your day is different when you wear it 😺💜
This summer, during July and August, I visited three farms and yarn stores and bought yarn according to my yarn no-buy year guidelines (I allow myself to buy yarn in stores, given there are none next to me).
Now that I have all this beautiful stash, what are my plans or fantasies ?
This time, I will follow one recommendation some one gave me in a comment on my YouTube channel : print it from a real Xerox big copier that can keep a good resolution even when copying on a large scale !
Second, the rest of the colours was to knit a Hide and Peak by Maxim Cyr that I’ve had in my queue for a long time. I wanted to knit the body in a dark grey colour, but they were out of stock (good for them !), so I bought the light brown one instead. I the mean time, Isabella Clark released the Fields Of Gold and the light browny beige Mohair cardé got an immediate reassign ! Fields of Gold it will be. The light blush pink, light grey and yellow will wait for another visit to the farm and the dark grey hopefully.
Fuzzy Mohair From La Ferme De L’Accroche Cœur
Ferme de l’Accroche Coeur
Mohair From Ferme de l’Accroche Coeur
This was a new farm to me, that I had been following on Instagram since the beginning of the year. When I visited, I first contacted her and turns out she had just opened her brick and mortar shop in her farm the day before ! She will keep selling open markets. When I visited, I already had a project style in mind : knitting a Bohus type colour work sweater. I need to find a design that will fit my yarn and gauge now 😺
Wooly Wool From Laines À L’Ouest
Laines à l’Ouest
Laines à l’Ouest
After I spent some time in the Pyrénées and Poitou, I went back home for my last weekend before work. I decided to drive to Lessay in Cotentin, a 1.5h trip, and go to the Laines à l’Ouest shop. I could not see the sheep as they were in a barn due to the higher tides that flood their usual pasture. It is common here in Normandie.
A beautiful shop, a very friendly host and marvelous rustic yarns. I may have found my substitute to the one from Iceland I have been drooling over for quite some time.
I bought these two 1kg cones in the undyed white yellowish kind and the grey brownish one.
When I saw the grey one, I immediately assigned it to the Highland Thistle Sweater by Carolyn Holbrook. The right colour, the right yarn weight. I do not have a real plan for the whitish one other than a Mare by Natasja Hornby in combination with the grey one. I think I’ll use the very as the background couleur and the white as the accent one, as shown in a sample.
In both places I also got yarn for Rosemary Grant and shipped it to Australia (not talking about clearing customs for her..). She received it and likes it 😻 She also shipped some Australian yarn to me, so I guess this will be a swap, win-win 💙
During the summer travelling months, I knew I was going to spend some money and buy yarn. I was completely OK with that and still am. I had planned and prepared for it even though unexpected choices had to be made. These places I went to (one in July, two in August), I won’t have opportunities to visit again in quite a long time. So be prepared for some spending, in particular if we sum up July and August.
So in August I went to the Pyrénées, a much awaited trip for a short vacation. I first stopped to spend a few days with my mother and go with her to the first attorney appointment for my fathers assets (he passed away in June). After all that was done, I went to pick up my second son on the way down to the Pyrénées and we spent a week there, making the most out of this shorter stay. I then went to spend a week at my mother’s home, and that will be for the August check-in !
I am quite a bit behind everything, blog and Instagram posts, YouTube videos, I hope you will understand I needed a little break from social media 🙂
Aulon – Beautiful in the summer fog ❤
The week of vacation program included hikes and buying my beloved mohair yarn from this small farm up in the mountains. I have already posted about it in a previous post from last year. It looks the same, although the mountain is a bit browner and much less green, due to the lack of rain and unusually high temperatures. The goats are kept near the farm to have food and water. They used to spend the summer higher up in the mountains, but it would not be safe for them with this very hot weather.
Unfortunately they were out of the colours I had in mind, so I went for the Mohair Cardé, a rougher yarn where the threads have not been combed to bring the fluff out. I has a beautiful stitch definition, is very well suited for colour work, and produces a very warm finished object. You can see it in action in my Pull Zenzi.
I have a sweater quantity of the beige and blue colours, 4 skeins of the grey, 3 of the pink and 2 of the yellow. I think the pink and the yellow are not coming back..
I bought the yarn with intentions, for one plain sweater and for one colour work. And all got changed after I bought a newly released pattern in August – Teaser teaser, stay tuned !!
While I was in vacation, Sari Nordlund released the Kuutar top and had an offer for the Kuutar family. I won’t wear a top, so I bought the Kuutar Tee pattern I had my eyes on. I already have the Kuutar sweater pattern in my queue, they all have very beautiful designs and yokes. I may get to it before the end of the summer, or I may not – so it will be for next summer 😺
Regarding my money expenses, the total for July goes up to €360 for a grand total of €717.59 since the begging of the year. A bit more than usual, a bit more than expected, without guilt !
I now need to organise my thoughts and plans, and assign these skeins to projects. I think I will have another blog post and video about this in the next week.
On the yarn no-buy subject, I have finished the Painting Triangles Shawl by Stephen West, with this cotton I do not like. Using bamboo needles helped as they made it a bit less splitty, but I still had to be very careful while knitting. I am so pleased to have made something I love out of this cotton I really do not like. The finished fabric is fine, the finished shawl is big, very big, and looks quite beautiful to me.
Would have I knitted that shawl if I was not on a no-buy ? I do not think so. I would have either knit another pattern or bought some other yarn or cotton. I am very happy and feel very satisfied I used my stashed cotton to make something that brings me joy.
So I bought yarn according to my rules, I used my stash to knit a shawl I love from a cotton I did not, I call that a success even though my yarn expenses have made a huge jump !
When Marie-Amelie stopped designing and publishing patterns and books, it was a bit of a shock for everyone as she was one of the very talented and recognised designer from France. I had already knitted several of her patterns, the Galane sweater that I love much, and the two scarves for my two eldest son’s Christmas presents :
Galane Sweater
Silata Scarves
So when the tags to thank her went live on Instagram, I followed the crowd and changed my mind about my next sweater cast on and started the Pull Zenzi. It is now done and I enjoy it much.
A bit short but not too short, a bit boxy, the perfect fit for me right now. I unexpectedly knitted ballon sleeves, I had not read the instructions before hand and was not expecting that ! A pleasant surprise along the way 😺💛
After. finished my Yellow Lawrenson Sweater, I swatched for the Pull Zenzi. I had decided to cast on the Chubasco Sweater with the De Rerum Natura Gilliat in Bouleau I bought for it. I crave for a light coloured sweater.
Marie-Amélie has decided to stop designing and there are a couple hashtags on Instagram to thank her for all her contributions. I already have knitted the Galane Sweater and was planning on other projects, including the Zenzi pullover, but not right now.
So this one took me quite some time and taking a picture was a bit tricky without any sun and light. I love it ! It is very warm, except on the forearms, of course, because sleeves are short. This yellow colour is what currently makes me happy 😺
I will knit forearms warmers to go with it, I will need that. I had a hood in mind too, but I have almost 5 skeins left out of the 10 I had bought and I wanted to knit another sweater with the colourful Filature Fonty Silk Sari yarn I have in my stash.
I won’t have enough for both a hood and another sweater. So either I find another project for the Sari yarn or I wait until this summer and get more mohair if I go to the Pyrénées again for the vacations. Decisions, decisions .. For now I have postponed thinking about that because I cannot decide. Stay tuned !
Knit Now 