Louisa Harding Esquel Review

I’ve just finished a lovely poncho for a friend. The yarn is Louisa Harding’s Esquel and the pattern is Ivy  from the Esquel book. It’s the one on the cover. The colour I used was 16 Tomato, which isn’t really a very accurate colour name as it’s much more like a rust / burnt orange colour.

It turned out so beautifully and I loved the colour. I keep thinking I’d quite like one but not sure I’ve got it in me to make another at the moment. It’s a beautiful knit but essentially just two big rectangles plus sleeves, so I think another one would become monotonous. Plus, I have an ever growing mountain of projects to do - maybe I'll add it to the wish list.

I was very impressed with the yarn. On the ball, I wasn’t enamoured by it. It was nice but not anything exciting. I’m not a fan of single ply yarns and it didn’t feel particularly soft. I’m very glad I’ve used it now because it’s a pleasure to knit with and blocks to a beautifully soft and draping fabric.

It’s a mix of 60% merino, 20% llama and 20% silk. The merino gives it nice body and warmth, the llama gives it a bit of a halo and the silk gives the tweed like effect on the yarn.

I made two swatches. I did hang them on their sides with weights on for a day or two. I wanted to see if the weight of the yarn would change the gauge. 

5.50mm – 17 sts & 24 rows

6.00mm – 16 sts & 23 rows

The intended gauge was 16 sts by 22 rows. The row gauge was more important for this, as it was worked from side to side. The poncho is quite oversized, so as long as I wasn’t miles off it didn’t matter hugely which I used. I thought the looser gauge would give more drape, which would be particularly nice in a poncho.

Suffice to say, my friend was very happy with the poncho.

It was a huge thing to block and took up all the spare bed. I ended up pinning the edge instead of using wires. I tried the wires but it was making a bigger job of it and I had a bit more control with the pins. I did use the wires in the shoulders and sleeves to give a straight edge.

Truesilk

The Torine scarf that I mentioned last week is finished. The yarn was Rowan Truesilk in the sleep colourway. Ravelry project page.

I love the colour of the yarn. The sheen of the yarn really brings out the colour beautifully – there’s almost a metallic tint to it. It is lovely to knit with as well. The only little hiccup is it’s very easy to catch and it is a chain construction so difficult to pull the snags back in.

It blocked very well. Though I think I spent half an hour threading the blocking wires down the garter stitch ridges but it was worth it. It makes a beautiful and fluid fabric - perfect for a scarf.

The central panel is knitting separately to the borders and then the borders are sewn on. Luckily, I like sewing.

The borders could have been worked at the same time as the body of the scarf but having the sewn seams gives the scarf some stability and helps with any rolling of the borders. Plus the borders are worked on a smaller needle and this does make for neater garter stitch than if it were worked on the same size needle as the scarf.

My weekend was spent working on a Ravi Junior by Carol Feller. Nearly finished but here’s a picture of the yoke in progress as I think it’s just lovely.

The construction is fun and interesting. I’m  really enjoying it.

Just One Ball

I love those quick in between projects that just use one ball.  A Good Yarn, Cleethorpes has in stock, the scrummy new Pure Wool Worsted by Rowan. I’d been eyeing the pattern Entrechat for a while and Pure Wool Worsted was a perfect fit. The recommended yardage meant that I could knit up to the 12-18 month size in just one ball. I ended up using just 73g, so I think I could have easily made the 2-3 year size in only one ball. So quite a bargain for just one ball.

The pattern itself was really simple but a slightly unusual construction. I made it in a day, so a proper weekend knit. Definitely a pattern that I'd consider making again, especially if I was in a rush for a present.

The yarn itself is just lovely. It has a lovely feel to it and the colour that I used, Breton had a heathered tone to it.

Another picture of before blocking -

and after blocking.

It makes a huge difference and the Pure Wool Worsted holds its shape perfectly. Even the ruffles at the bottom stay in position.

Here's my Ravelry Project Page.

Incidental lepidoptery

At a quick glance, it's looks like I'm practising lepidoptery, but I'm not pinning out butterflies but lots of swatches. 

I've had that many, that I've had to do them in batches and each time I've started to run out of blocking pins and have been relegated to using dressmaker's pins.

I still have more to go. Wish me luck....

FO: Vitamin D

I have a finished object to show you. My Vitamin D cardigan. The pattern is by Heidi Kirramaier and it was very easy to follow. 

Turned hem - right side

I did make one or two little alterations. The main one is the sleeve hems, which I changed from garter stitch to turned hems. I thought it would give it some weight and stop them from flipping up. I worked the sleeve until the length I wanted then purled one row. I switched to smaller needles and worked 6 rows and cast off. Finally, I sewed them down. I was really thrilled with how neat the sewing on the inside is. I lined up the cast off stitches with the ones  directly above it and used a whip stitch. I made sure the stitch was identical each time and I'm glad I put in that little extra effort.

Turned hem - wrong side

I was really worried when it came off the needles as the garter hem was flipping and wonky. I normally don’t worry but the yarn has a very high proportion of acrylic and I wasn’t sure how well it would block. I'll be brave and show you pictures of me in my Vitamin D.

Before blocking

Before blocking

After blocking

After blocking

I didn't need to worry though as it blocked beautifully. 

The yarn is very unusual. It's Bergere de France Cabourg. The mix of acrylic and hemp makes a different texture - hard to describe but silky and prickly at the same time. I really liked it, it has a subtle sheen to it. 

Pity it’s a little too warm here at the moment to wear.