Tropical Orchid

All sewn up and just in time for spring ~

 Kid mohair & silk, candy stripes, delicate texture, intricate lace pattern...

It took a while but it was worth it.

I love the organic edge the stitch pattern created.

It's on Ravelry here

RECYCLED SILK

I got this bundle of colourful joy from a shop called 'Happy Herbal High' in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

 Look at the colours!

They have a store in Camden too. 

Which is good, as I feel I need more than the one ball already.

Finally finished my Tropical Orchid....

...Well, almost. 

I still need to tie all the ends in and sew it up -

 but the knitting part is done -

 and that's what really counts, right?

The pattern (Tropical Orchid by Erica Knight) is from an issue of Simply Knitting. 

I saw the top on the front cover and liked it so much it made me buy the magazine. 

A little ignorant of me to really look at how intricate the pattern was...

Took me a little longer than the 1-2 weeks I had hoped for!

Worth it though because the pattern is beautiful and so effective when you see it as a whole piece of fabric. 

I used the left over mohair/silk yarn from my Clouds sweater and so made a few alterations to the original pattern - basically mine is striped and sleeveless, which gives it an entirely different look.

I'll get some far nicer photos taken once the sheets of tendrilous knitting have been transformed into a wearable garment!

Clouds... My First Knitted Sweater

I have finally gotten round to knitting my first ever jumper:

It was great fun; really quick to knit as the stitch pattern is quite loose.

I used Debbie Bliss angel yarn which is a blend of kid mohair and silk and it feels so wonderful!

For the cuffs I knitted with an organic 100% wool dk yarn; all of which I treated myself to from Loop Knitting in Islington. 

The pattern is from this fantastic book I got given second hand.  Seriously worth checking out!

(If you click on the pic it'll take you to it's Amazon page).

There's some great patterns in there and I've already got my yarn lined up for the next one from it...