April was a very productive month on the knitting front and these are the last two projects that I cast off last week. When I was at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, I stopped by the Uist Wool booth. I'll be visiting the island of Uist in September as part of a hiking holiday in the Hebrides. Their yarn is absolutely gorgeous - rustic, full of earthy, rich colours in blends of Shetland, Zwartbles and Cheviot. The fleeces are local from the island and spun at a mill on North Uist. I love their Reothart blend - it's a magic DK ball of various coloured wool that knits up into gorgeous gradient stripes.
I chose a very simple pattern to let the yarn shine. Nuuk, designed by Jonna Hietala, is a simple top-down knit from the first issue of Laine Magazine (which is full of lovely patterns - issue 2 is out this month and I can't wait). Honestly, this thing practically knitted itself in about a week - just rounds of stockinette made so enjoyable by the feel of the wool in my hands and the constant change of colour. The only tricky bit was to fiddle with the colours on the ribbing of the sleeves to match the body, but this wool is great for spit-splicing. This photo was taken before the top was blocked as I was so anxious to wear it to Wonderwool which was the next day. I have since washed and blocked it, and the ribbing at the bottom completely evened out and the whole garment is smooth to the touch. I absolutely love it and it will definitely be coming to Uist with me later in the year.
I also finished Hap #9 from The Book of Haps. This is the Harewood Hap by the very clever Bristol Ivy and knit in Northern Yarn's Poll Dorset 4ply for the white, and various shades (Coal, Brass Band, Eccup and Wesley Bob) of Baa Ram Ewe's Titus 4ply for the colours. I thought it would be fun to take my inspiration from Mondrian as the design was so graphic.
I have to admit I'm a little out of my comfort zone with these bold colours. They look fine over a black dress, but I rarely wear this dress and I'm not sure how to style it casually with a pair of jeans. A friend suggested that it would look lovely draped over a chair when not in use, and I can see this living on the back of my living room sofa. Still, it will be the perfect hap to wear to an art gallery, particularly if there's a Mondrian exhibit touring! Nine haps down, four to go. . .
