Pattern: Liesl, by Ysolda
Yarn: Posh Yarn’s Eva 4 ply (50% cashmere 50% silk), 6 skeins knitted double.
Needles: 7mm
Notes: I loved making this cardigan. The yarn is sublime: soft, warm, subtly variegated and with a beautiful sheen. The pattern was quick and fun to make, and was the first top-down garment I have knitted. My Liesl isn’t blocked yet; I’m going to add a couple of inches to the sleeves as they have a tendency to ride up.
I found this great website, which is like an online, old-fashioned haberdashery shop. It’s called MacCulloch and Wallis, and although it’s based in London, it ships internationally. I have been looking all over the place for the perfect buttons for my Liesl cardigan, to no avail, until I found this site. This is what I chose:
I love these rose buttons, they look a little like loosely-wound balls of yarn, and I think they go really well with the knit pattern on this cardigan.
My other choice was these pretty flower-printed mother of pearl buttons. They didn’t look so good on Liesl, but will be lovely on a paler colour.
And here’s how my Liesl is looking so far. Asymmetry all gone, racer back all gone, and nearly full length!
We’re probably going to Copenhagen next week, and I really want to see if I can get this finished in time to take with me. Off now to knit.
Notice anything odd about my Liesl cardigan?
Anything a bit lopsided, uneven perhaps? Of course you do, it’s pretty obvious isn’t it! Well, except to me, apparently. I’ve tried this on several times, checked that it fitted me nicely across the chest (it does), pinned the front together to see if I liked the buttonhole placement (I do).
I did notice that the back looked like it was a bit small, but I figured that this is maybe how it’s meant to look:
Umm, no it’s not. I’ve managed to put one of the pattern repeats from the back onto one side of the front. Here’s how the front is supposed to look:
And here’s how the other side looks:
Silly girl.
I mentioned the other day that I was tempted to rework Ysolda’s Liesl pattern for my 4-ply Eva yarn. Turns out I don’t need to – if I knit two strands of Eva together, I get exactly the right gauge for the pattern as written. So that is what I am doing.
It’s a delight to knit. I love this yarn, and I love this pattern. If it wasn’t for the fact that my hand is now hurting from knitting, it would almost make up for the fact that I am still stuck at home recuperating from bronchitis. Here’s how far I got before I had to stop.
Oh well, back to watching Miss Marple I guess.
There is a rather strange sort of Newtonian reaction going on chez Pea at the moment. I am at home, convalecsing after being ill; while I get better all the time, there seems to be a direct and opposite reaction taking place. With my bank balance.
Let me explain. Having finished my Eyelet Chemise at the weekend I found myself without a full sized project to work on. On Sunday I decided to cheer myself up by taking part in the frenzied button-clicking madness that is a Posh Yarn sale. I didn’t manage to get my first choice, which was an olive-y silk cashmere blend, but I did get this:
This rose pink loveliness is Eva 4-ply, 55% silk and 45% cashmere, and I got eight, yes EIGHT, skeins of her – enough to make a full sized cardigan.
The only thing stopping me casting on immediately is that there are not all that many cardigan patterns that I can find in 4-ply. I love Ysolda’s Liesl, which is for worsted or aran weight; I’m quite tempted to re-work that pattern for this yarn. I also adore Kim Hargreave’s Tender, which is knit to a more appropriate gauge, but I think one of the things that I love about it is its wispy, Kidsilk Haziness. Both of these are good, but I’m not sure either is quite right for my Eva.
This is truly special yarn; it’s going to be worth saving until the perfect pattern comes along.
