rusted fox

So, alas, Orangina. It could possibly be fixed by unknitting the ribbing and (groan) either starting it further up or (double groan) extending the lace and having only a couple of inches of lace lower down.

Or, you know, I could stick it in the back of the wardrobe and clock it up to experience. And possibly recycle the cotton later, because it is nice cotton. Yes.

But! At a loss for a shrug pattern, and wondering what to do with all that gorgeous cashsoft yarn I bought at the knitting and stitching show, all the sexy knitting photos of Rusted Root caught my gaze. I didn't even mean to knit it. It wasn't a plan. And I had 500g of that cashsoft, far too much for a short-sleeved top. Didn't I need a cardigan?

No use.

FO: Rusted Root

This is awesome. Look at the pink and the curves and the puffed sleeves! And I didn't even mean to knit it. Honest.

Pattern: Rusted Root, by Zephyrstyle, in medium

Yarns: 5 skeins of RYC Cashsoft DK, in a discontinued colour (512), 57% extrafine merino, 33% microfibre, 10% cashmere, 130m per 50g.

Needles: 4mm Addi Turbos

Time sucked: Two weeks, is all. It zips along.

Pattern modifications: Ah HA!



The magic of short rows, is what I added. Thanks here go to Fantasy Knitsfor her curvalicious inspiration. I only added three short rows; Fantasy Knits added six, and if I had to knit this again I'd do the same. But look at the difference they make! Normally, high-necked puff-sleeved tops make me look like a potato sack with an elastic tied around it, but with the rows of joy, no-one is safe from my curves.

I wore it to a style bar on Saturday, and no-one booed me out. No one even raised an eyebrow. A handknit, in a style bar! That's how rocking this is, yo.

not scarlet, but orange

Ack, it has been a while. As ever, it feels as though there's been no knitting at all, and as ever, I find to my surprise that actually, I've been knitting almost without thinking in the holes of a really ridiculously busy fortnight. In fact, I've f'ed some o's, who would have thought? So first up:

Orangina

Teeny tiny needles, endless ribbing, tough (though softer than usual) cotton: I finished it! But... I'm not sure. I really amn't. Everyone I read online said to make sure that I knitted it a size smaller than usual, so I did: this is an S, and I am definitely an M. And yet, look: I blocked it as narrow as I could, and there's still something slightly loose and baggy about it. Moreover, the nice scallops at the neck, which stick up sweetly in everyone ELSE'S version, don't seem to work on mine. My lovely lady friend says she thinks that perhaps the main problem is that the ribbing beings in the wrong place: nowhere near my natural waist, making me look a bit pointless-shaped. Perhaps. I don't know. It's not a complete disaster, but I'm not sure I'll be wearing this in public any time soon, either. (Even with a vest underneath.) What do you think?

Pattern: Glampyre's Orangina

Yarns: Rowan 4-Ply Cotton in a discontinued shade called Rosehip

Needles: 3 1/2mm circulars

Time sucked: A month or so

Pattern modifications: Not that many, really