Audrey in Unst...

...aka Karen's new cardigan

Knitted using Rowan Felted Tweed and using Gudrun Johnston's pattern.

Audrey in Unst is a cropped cardigan with a Shetland inspired lace 'bib'.

Both yarn and pattern in the shop. And Karen may well be wearing the cardigan too!

Evening Twilight

Ever since we got copies of Gudrun Johnston 's patterns I've had my eye on Homin...

The shawl is constructed by first making a long vertical strip of triangles, making yarn overs along the long straight edge. You then pick up he yarn overs and use short rows to form the body of the shawl - a crescent shape.

I have never knitted a shawl like this and I was intrigued ... After knitting Colour Affection I knew I liked crescent shape shawls and found it a more versatile shape to wear.

When we took delivery of Regia Angora Merino I knew I found the right 4ply for this project...

I knitted this at a slightly looser tension as I wanted it extra long.  The yarn is super soft and colour really pops!  I would say that the triangles were trickier than I expected, but after about 4 I felt I 'got' the pattern and it rattled along quite quickly.  

Its a great pattern to master your K2tog and ssk!  The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

The short rows were great, such a clever way to shape an item.

new shop sample - Fiona's new cardigan!

Moch cardigan in Louisa Harding  Ianthe

The pattern is the Moch cardigan designed by Gudrun Johnston, one of our new patterns in the shop.

It was knitted in Lousia Harding Ianthe,  a DK weight yarn.  I used shade 18.  It was a very quick knit and my first grown up bottom up cardigan.

You knit the body in once piece - slipping the first stitch in every row.  You then knit both sleeves and put the whole lot onto a long circular needle to knit the lace patterned yoke.

You graft the under arms together at the end.

Following the designers advice I choose a size a couple of inches smaller than me, but I was still a wee bit worried that the cardigan would be too big.  However once the yoke was done and I had cast off on smaller needles the yoke was pulled in very nicely!

The Louisa Harding Ianthe yarn was lovely to work with.  It didn't split and has lovely stitch definition.  It was soft and smooth on my hands.

I added an 2 extra rows at the neckline to make it higher.

The cardigan is currently in the window on our Dummy but I'm not sure for how long as I really want to wear it!

Also the Dummy is a size 10 and I'm not!  So it looks a wee bit big... It is actually a much closer fitting cardigan.  There was some discussion about giving her some balls of wool for breasts or fashioning some bosoms from bubble wrap but she has been left with her A - cups!

Gudrun Johnston in her Moch

The details

Moch Cardigan pattern in 10 sizes, charted and written instructions.  £4.75.

Louisa Harding Ianthe, 50% wool and 50% cotton, DK weight .  £4.95 per ball

Coloured shell buttons - 20p each

Gudrun Johnston patterns in the shop!

Following on from Carol Feller, Kate Davies and Cotton Cloud patterns we now stock a selection of Gudrun Johnston (aka Shetland Trader) patterns!

You can see more about Gudrun on her website...

"Gudrun often includes aspects of her Shetland heritage in her designs, mostly utilising traditional lace patterns in a contemporary context. She also loves to design using seamless construction and is always adding new techniques to her seamless knitting skills"
source: theshetlandtrader.com

Here are a selection of her patterns available in the shop now!

Moch, Laar, Soay

 

clockwise from top left - Aeslight, Flukra, Norie, Hansel, Homin

*photos by Gudrun Johnston and Jared Flood

We also have copies of her book Shetland Trader Book One which features 10 patterns inspired by the Shetland Islands with photography by Jared Flood.

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As with our other indie patterns you will likely need to find a suitable yarn substitute for these patterns. Gudrun lists the yardage you need to complete the project and there is further advice on the pattern page on Ravelry. We're happy to suggest alternatives but remember - everyone knits differently. It is important to do a tension square and change your needle size/yarn to get the same tension as the designer and thus the correct garment size.