Two months of lockdown are over. And so is summer. At least in this part of the world. I managed to use the time to enjoy my family to the fullest, to craft and to play with the boys and to go to the local beach almost every single day. It could have been a lot worse, all things considered, but I’m so happy that lockdown is over and the little monsters can see their friends again and learn new things that only other kids’ company can teach them.

I was so tired in the evenings that when the kids finally were asleep! My brain wouldn’t support anything that was more complicated than the basic twitching of fingers for stockinette which could be executed in the dark on the sofa, huddled under a blanket and watching TV-series with bleary eyes.

But after a few pairs of socks (that made all of us happy and warm) I felt that I needed something more substantial.

So I went back to my queue on Ravelry and picked a few favourites from the list. The Use What You Have KAL is still on, so I dove deep down into my stash and dyed some skeins that I matched with some lovely yarns from the endless depths of my yarn drawers.

I am not the most prolific sweater knitter and can’t stand knitting anything but top-down, because it’s easier to try on and adjust if needed, and also I’m horrible at following patterns. I had a few patterns in my queue that ticked the boxes and I wanted to learn new ways to shape necklines.

So first off I wanted to knt a few patterns by Ela Torrente. Soft Stones intrigued me because of the fun stripes on the sleeves and also because of the boat neck.

I dyed the main colour a deep emerald green (yarn is Mumpitz Design Sock), which turned out exactly the way I wanted and combined this witch a charcoal Bamboo yarn (Mumpitz Design Bamboo).

I have to say that the sweater’s construction wasn’t very obvious in the beginning. It might have been exhaustion, but just wrapping my head around where the neck hole would be wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. So I stopped thinking altogether and just followed the instructions, which obviously was the smartest thing to do 😛

Enjoying the good weather at the beach, letting the kids play their hearts out, I actually made good progress.

Two weeks later it was finished and I LOVE it!

Although two things are no perfect for me:

– It is way wider than I would prefer, even though I already decreased a lot after joining for the body.

– I am not too fond of picking up the stitches for the sleeves (even though placing of a lifeline was suggested), so the transition from main colour to sleeves looks a little thicker close up, but all in all I love this sweater and it’s very cozy option for a chilly day.

And since I love this sweater very much I cast on the second pattern by Ela Torrente straight away. This model is called Colombo. Same colour and yarn as for the previous sleeves, but alternating with a lighter tone of the charcoal bamboo yarn.

As contrasting sleeve colour I picked a ball of Schoppelwolle Crazy Zauberball (Kleiner Fuchs) which had been waiting in my stash for ever already.

The shaping of the neckline for this model is done in short rows and I like this idea very much. What I didn’t quite like was the fact that sizes for this sweater are not at all the same as for the previous one. So instead of a loose fit I ended up with a shape hugging sweater for cooler days. Which is fine, really but I am definitely going to knit this pattern again in a bigger size.

I have had my eye on a wrapped cardigan with cables forever, but unfortunately that pattern isn’t currently available. So I decided to improvise. The yarn is fresh from the dye pot, a very jeans-y blue and I think it might turn out nice, too. Wish me luck!

Also, since so many of you are still buying my patterns supporting the World Wildlife Fund I was able to make yet another symbolic adoption! THANK YOU so much for your support!!