on my needles: Twisted Grapes Cardigan

On my 4th of July weekend trip, I had grand plans to get several summer patterns cut out and ready to sew when I got home.  I carefully packed a bin with the fabric, patterns, scissors, pins, fabric weights, a measuring tape and other sundries.

And then I left it on my bed instead of putting it in the trunk.

Oops.

Luckily, at the last minute I also threw some new in my bag, so I had something to keep me busy over the long weekend.  It was sort of an impulsive ebay purchase that I bid low on and didn't expect to win.  A few days later when I got the notification I won, I was pleasantly surprised, but I didn't have any specific plan or vision for the yarn.  It's plain grey, from China.  A sport weight blend of wool, silk, and cashmere.  Very soft.

I scoured ravelry for the cardigan patterns that matched my gauge and yardage and was happy to discovered Vera Sanon's Twisted Grapes Cardigan. Check it out - it's done in the same top-down method as many of Andi Satterlund's designs, like Agatha, which I have on my short list of patterns I'd like to make for Fall.

It's great research.  Thankfully, I found a really helpful post on Andi's Untangling Knots that's part of the Outfitalong, which shows how she joined the fronts onto the back and then joined all the live stitches together.  This post gave me the visual connection I needed to really grok the process, so I was confident starting out that I could make it work.

The process is very different than the raglan top-downs I've made before where the head of the sleeve is knit with the body. This one has options for either a short-row topdown method for the set-in sleeves OR a bottom up flat sleeve that's sewn on after it's knitted.

So far, I love it to bits - love the yarn, love the pattern, love the process, love the designer's clear and precise instructions, and love some the designer's other patterns... I also love that this pattern is free! What's not to like?!

Whenever I retreat on my breaks at work to my knitting lately, I've been getting the Ananda Yoga child's pose affirmation in my head:  "I relax from outer involvement into my inner haven of peace." Knitting has become my inner haven of peace, in a busy day.