Buchanan In Nature's Shades. . .

Here's my finished Buchanan, designed by Kate Davies and knit as part of Knit British's Nature's Shades knit-a-long.

When the idea for the KAL was proposed, I thought it would be really interesting to pick a pattern that had originally been designed with lots and lots of colours. I looked at Kaffe Fassett's patterns (too much intarsia) and some of Marie Wallin's gorgeous fair isle sweaters (too many shades) but in the end, I went with this lovely short-sleeved top by Kate from her Yokes book. You can see the original bright colours she used in her version here. 

I knit this entirely with stash yarn  (hooray, although it barely makes a dent).  The body is Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Blue-faced Leicester, and there's Manx Loaghtan and Falklands Island wool in the yoke, both from Blacker Yarns.  The band of light grey is Kate's own Buachaille yarn which I really wanted to use; I'm such a fan of both the yarn and her designs. 



The pattern was very easy to follow and I love the fit.  In retrospect, I should have paid more attention to the yoke and the weight of the yarns used.  I should have held the dark brown Falklands doubled as it's a 4ply up against the sportweight of Buachaille.  It does fade into the background, especially on those single vertical lines.  But I'm very pleased with the body which is soft and lovely against the skin, and I think this is a top that will be perfect to wear in the transitional seasons.  The colours do say autumn to me, but you can bet I'll be wearing it a lot this spring.