Finished Pittura Cardigan

Hello my dear blog friends,


After recently finishing my Pittura Cardigan (I first blogged about it in this post), I took plenty of photos so I could show you what it looks like!


Finished project - Pittura Cardigan

The original pattern is called Winkle Vest by Tracy St. John (you can find it via Ravelry).

I used 3 x 100g balls of Louisa Harding Pittura yarn in the colourway Kahlo (604). Basically I kept going until there was only a tiny amount of yarn left. I managed to do 2x rounds of double crochet along each of the outside edges. This helped to reinforce some of the stress points, such as neckline and arm holes.

The yarn is very soft and feels light when worn. The cardigan has got a beautiful drape. The original pattern is an open Gilet type cardigan without any closures. I added buttons and crochet loops to the yoke so I can close it.

funkycrochet : Pittura Cardigan is finished!

I added 3 matching green buttons

The top part of the cardigan

The lacy Shell stitch pattern

Cardigan back

You can see that the front hem deeps lower than the back

The front measured from neckline to hem is 70cm long, the back only 54cm. These measurements are great for me because I'm very tall. The cardigan covers my back and keeps me warm!

The shell pattern shows off the beautiful colour flecks

I found this pattern easy to follow and a great way to construct a cardigan. The shell pattern was easy and the yarn was ideal for this. I crochet quite loosely and I love the stretchiness of the resulting fabric! This yarn would be great for a shawl or equally a blanket!

It was the first time that I ordered yarn from https://www.tangled-yarn.co.uk/ who provide a great and friendly service and also ship internationally. I can recommend this online shop, they specialize in hand dyed yarn and source also from smaller suppliers. I also bought the wool for my Feather and Fan scarf there!

I couldn't resist and placed another order which arrived today which includes more Pittura yarn in a different colourway (more of that in the future). Disclaimer: I was not asked to write this, I only did it because I wanted to share it with you!

I hope you enjoyed reading this post, maybe you would like to leave a comment below? I'm so pleased that you have stopped by! Until next time!

Very pleased with my new Cardigan!

Crochet news : My Pittura Cardigan

Hello again,

Well after showing you lots of favourites patterns from just one crochet magazine (check it out here to see all the pictures!), I will let you know which one it is that I have started last weekend...

I am using the Louisa Harding Pittura yarn which is Wool and Bamboo, so soft.
Here is a link where I ordered the yarn from. The colourway is 604, called Kahlo (after the painter Frida Kahlo), it reminded me of a summer meadow with pretty flowers.

Louisa Harding ; Pittura 604

Last weekend we went to Germany to visit a music festival (as we do every year) and I took my pattern along to get started. This is after roughly an hour's journey crocheting in the car.

I am using a large 5.5mm hook (as indicated in the pattern), though the yarn is different, but similar.

My Pittura Cardigan - first stitches. Having a coffee break in the warm sunshine!
 

Did you guess the pattern? It is called Winkle Vest by Tracy St. John. Here are the pattern pictures.

I immediately fell in love with this pattern and knew I had to make it. I was intrigued by the construction. You first make one half of the shoulder section, then go back to the centre and make the other half in mirror image. You then continue underneath and crochet downwards to add the body. This is useful because then you can decide how long you want to make it and try it on whilst working on it.

This was quite different from other patterns I had seen and it looked not too difficult. The pattern consists of rows of shells. The only thing that bothered me slightly was the gaping front, I wanted to change that (I added more rows).

Here are finally some more pictures, it is not finished yet, but I am making good progress. Unfortunately the weather here has been so bad lately that I have not been able to make better photos, sorry! The light does not show the colours very well.

Trying on for fit (also wearing my windowpane cowl)

arm holes

centre neck section

 

front view

side edge view

And here are a few photos from the day when I started the cardigan, it was beautiful spring weather in Germany and the sunshine was warm and lovely. I was admiring the cherry blossom!

And here is just one last photo from our journey back on Sunday afternoon:

We went and visited the IJssalon/Chocolaterie Bellissimo (address: Jan Deckersstraat 57, 5591 HP Heeze, Netherlands) because I mentioned to my partner that we had visited a nice Ice cream café on our way back the year before, and luckily he managed to find it via Google streetview! Hooray! This was the first ice cream of the year, even though it rained, hailed and snowed on our journey back afterwards!

Wish you had been there to taste the ice cream with me!!! :) It was delicious!!!
(I had hazelnut and chocolate, plus cream! What's your favourite?)

New crochet projects - Lacy Feather and Fan Wrap and another Windowpane Cowl and lovely new Yarn!!!

Welcome back!


As promised, I want to show you more about the recent new crochet projects that I started during the last two weeks, as mentioned in my last post.


The Lacy Feather and Fan Wrap


This is one of those amazing patterns that I had long favourited in my ravelry account, but at the time I was not ready to try it out!

Lacy Feather and Fan Wrap on Ravelry
This pattern is available as a free download.

If you check out the various projects from this pattern you will be amazed just how versatile and beautiful it is!

The basic pattern is based on 76 stitches which will have 3 shell and 4 feather sections. Of course you can vary the amount of stitches to a different width (multiples of 19 stitches).

Here is a first glimpse of my own work in progress! Isn't it pretty?

Lacy Feather and Fan Wrap

The story behind this project

Ok, back to the beginning. It began with an email that informed me about a brand new yarn by Louisa Harding, called Pittura. It is inspired by great painters. I fell in love with the shade Kahlo!

So I looked it up where I could get this online (after phoning my local wool shop which did not yet stock it). And I found a new online shop called https://www.tangled-yarn.co.uk/ where I decided to order from.

Whilst browsing their fabulous yarns, I came across a brand called http://www.walkcollection.com/en/ . Cathrin dyes her yarn in small batches by hand in Germany. The colour combinations are gorgeous. Her batches sell out fast!

So, suddenly I decided to order a skein of delicate Merino from the Walk Collection, in the shade called Salina. It has got a dark hazelnut brown, lighter brown, Rust, Lichen. Mushroom, Aqua Blue, bright Turquoise in it.  All these colours remind me of my recent walk in the woods to see the Bison!

When my package arrived, I was thrilled with the new yarn!!!

Louisa Harding Pittura (Kahlo) and Walk Collection (Salina)

Here is Salina, in a skein, then unwound and after winding it into a nice squishy yarn cake!!! It is Heavy Lace - 600m to a 100g. The colours are really difficult to show on a computer!

I decided to make a swatch to see how the pattern would look like and how it was put together. I had wanted to try a chevron, zigzag or ripple pattern for a while. What I like about this pattern is that the number of stitches remains constant in each row!

After that little swatch I was ready to get started!!!

My lacy Shawl together with my new spring flowers

I took the above two photos on the balcony to get better light. I love the lace effect against the light!

This time I am using my Addi hook 4mm, and I am crocheting so very loosely. This shawl will need some serious blocking afterwards. I have just done some maths and realised that I need to get a second skein!

So, you can see from this story, whilst I set out to find out about an advertised yarn, I actually ended up (also) with an entirely different yarn and entire new project!


The Windowpane Cowl


As you might remember, I recently made the first Windowpane cowl. You can read the post here! It also tells you more where to find this free pattern.

I liked this pattern so much that I decided to start another version, this time with a different yarn. I found some Drops Alpaca in a Teal colour in my existing stash. Oh, this wool is so soft with a kind of fuzzy halo. Some of the fibres actually looked green amongst the blue.

Below you can see the swatch I made from cotton yarn and then the new swatch from Pure Alpaca Yarn above it. The cotton swatch looks much crisper!

You can see I am slowly making progress. I love holding it in my hands, it feels incredibly soft!

As for the Louisa Harding Pittura yarn, I have already found a new project idea in that new Simply Haekeln Bookazine that I bought in Germany! I am itching to get started, but I better continue with these two projects, plus the green Spring Airy cotton Top, first blogged here.

Thanks for your support, as always! I look forward to reading your comments!
And thanks for following my blog, and a welcome to my latest followers, feel free to join in!