Thanks everyone for your lovely comments about the Tyrolean Cardigan. Vintage and vintage-esque knits is really the direction I’ve been wanting to go down for quite some time and it’s lovely to get some affirmation that it was a good move (for this project anyway). Ultimately it’s been myself, and myself only, that’s prevented me knitting the things I really want to knit and wear. In a classic case of not seeing the forest for the trees, it’s been short term things, such as being put off by the fine gauge or the extra effort required for yarn substitutions, that had been my focus, rather than knowing that I’ll be creating a garment that I will enjoy and wear a lot. It’s funny how there’s such a difference between the projects you would like to work on and the projects you would actually use, once all those hours of labour (and love) have gone in.

Although not vintage, this is a project, finished at around the same time as the cardigan, that ticked both of those boxes:

Claudia by MJ Kim
1.1 balls of Balmoral Tweed (not 100 per cent sure of how much yarn was used, as I just used scraps leftover from Dad’s vest. It wouldn’t have been much more than 50 grams though)
3.50 and 4.00 mm needles
Start: June 2009
Finish: June 2009
Ravelryed here

Despite its feminine name, I think Claudia makes for a good unisex beanie. The only modifications came about by pure accident; I crossed the wrong way on the first row of trellis stitch, so the other crosses have also been reversed, and the post-trellis stitch ribbing was meant to be knit through the back of the stitch. It was a little while before these mistakes were realised, but the recipient doesn’t seem to mind, and I don’t mind, so we’re all good as far as I’m concerned. Something that bothers me a little is that it’s currently unblocked, and I think the ribbing would settle a little if it was. Given it’s current amount of use, I might have to wait until after winter before I can block it.

The next couple of weeks are going to be fairly busy in the Pransell household, as we are planning an interstate move in about a week and a half. While I’ll be at home during this time, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post much more before we head off. The intention to post a little more frequently is there, but how this reconciles with reality is an entirely different matter.

Not sure what exactly it was about my green cardi, but whenever I did anything with it, it seemed to suck the common sense right out of me.

First it was not getting the fronts even, then it was forgetting that I could take passable flash photos using the external flash bought from a recent school fete for the princely sum of five dollars.

So, the Tyrolean, or Duffer, Cardigan is now finished.

Tyrolean Cardigan from Vintage Knits by Sarah Dallas
4.25 balls of Panda Pure Wool, dark green
3.25 and 4.00 mm needles
Start: August 2008
Finish: June 2009
Ravelryed here

Overall, I’m quite happy with it. The bobbles look good, it’s warm (very important now it’s getting proper cold here), and the buttons match well. I suspect that I may have mentioned it in a previous post, but the yarn and buttons were stash, and I already had the book. That in itself pleases me as much as the finished product!

The only modification made to the pattern was to lengthen it slightly to accommodate my longish body. The cardigan body is a perhaps a bit boxy for my body, but that’s easily solved by only using the buttons around the waist. If I were to do it over again, waist shaping a la the non-cropped, non-tryst vest might be a better option for me. That said, I’m sure this is something I’ll be wearing a lot.

A big thank you to everyone who helped in deciding what my next project will be. If you’ll excuse the pun, Your Victory Jumper was the victor, narrowly defeating the zig zag lace top and Bottoms Up. I started on the ribbing last night, and seeing the magenta poke through between the grey stitches makes me want to take back what I said about the garishness of the needles. Magenta needles, I hope you’ll forgive me.

There are a heap of things I wanted to post today. However, I’ve been feeling quite tired and yuck, so didn’t get round to taking any photos. To distract you all from not having a proper post with visual aids, here’s a short list of things that have caught my eye recently:

Roddy and Ginger screen print. Can’t really go wrong with a print that contains olive green and owls.
Silver button ring by Corky Saint Clair and Red Cloud Designs. I don’t know if this was a one off or not, but by Jove I hope I can get one.

Old Swingline staplers. Vintage stationery supplies has always had an appeal, but I think watching Mad Men has whet my appetite for it a bit more.
Moon globes. I’d like to get my hands on one of these on day, but this one’s a wee bit outside my price range. Maybe one day the op shop gods will smile upon me.
Twinings tea tin planters made by Allison from The Lark. Really clever idea, and they look awesome.

A knitting lull has settled here in the wake of finishing Dad’s vest. There are a few projects I’m interested in making, but for some reason there is nary a set of 2.75mm circular or straight needles in the house, the very size that I need for each of these projects. Even more disturbing is that it seems to be a size that’s not available in Addi Turbos (I’d love to be corrected on this, as I’m quite the Addi Turbo fan). Drastic times mean drastic action.

Drastic of course being magenta anodised aluminium knitting needles. I do adore anodised aluminium, particularly in a lamp context, but the magenta is GAUDY! However, besides that nitpicky niggle, I’m happy there is now a pair of 2.75mm needles in my possession.

As I cannot decide what to knit next with my flashy magenta needles, I thought I’d turn it over to you guys. Here are the yarn nominees, along with links to the patterns intended for each yarn:

Bottoms Up (rav link only) by Alice Bell, in Pewter Euroflax Sport,

Blue Bird Jumper (the last photo in this post) from A Stitch In Time, in the sadly long discontinued Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 5ply, green tweed,

Your Victory Jumper by Home Notes, using grey, blue and cream Grignasco Bambi, and

Zig Zag lace top (rav link only again, sorry) in black alpaca lace from the Bendigo Woollen Mills Bargain Room.

I’ll tally the votes on Wednesday 10 June. In the mean time, I try to finish knitting a beanie and, if we’re all lucky, my bobble cardigan.