my portugal jenny

this is rowan jenny cardigan (back only) from rowan 37.
jenny was my companion on this trip and we were to spend a lot of time together. as it turned out jenny and i did not spend as much time together as i had anticipated. currently she is only a back, right and left front and the beginnings of two sleeves.

jenny is 7 skeins of rowan ryc cashsoft dk in color sh506. (57% extra fine merino, 33% acrylic microfiber & 10% cashmere) she is knit on us #3 & #6 needles. i substituted cashsoft for the handknit cotton dk used in the pattern & i knit a larger size to make up for the gauge.

if traveling to portugal and you happen to be in the neighborhood of estoril you must visit retrosaria fantasia- perhaps the best haberdashery shop i have been too. in addition to finding my portugal jenny buttons, i bought loads more for which i currently have no use for but would like to eat them like candy because they are so wonderful.

a quick note~ i have been traveling so much recently i have been a bad blogger. my travels in portugal took me by bus to sintra where i made my way walking through town~ passed my neighbor's favorite restaurant the lawrence, hiked up to the castelo da pena and then castelo dos mouros.


favorite things about portugal:
mussels
sardines
cheese
olives
wine
beer
beach

sadly, jenny went to the side once the ravery olympics began in favor of her near twin. as an attempt to better my knitting skills i decided to frog vintage lilac from knit today issue 22 and use the cashcotton dk for a jenny with beads.

cotton~ and what was i thinking?

beads~ and what was i thinking?

with help from one knutty knitter i learned a lot about bead knitting. the most valuable being that the beads i had bought for my pattern were two small. still i was encouraged to knit my project as planned by fellow knitters.

most useful bit-o-advice:

bead size suitable fiber 11/0 #8 perle cotton; d silk, #20 crochet cotton 10/0 #8 perle cotton; e silk 8/0 #3, 5, or 8 perle cotton; ff silk; lace weight and fingering weight yarn 6/0 (or 4mm diameter) a.k.a E or small pony bead #3 or 5 perle, crochet cotton; fff silk; rayon, fingering and sport weight yarn 2/0 aka small crow 20/10 silk; dk to worsted weight yarn 33/0 aka crow bead worsted weight yarn

this lady is a bead queen.

candy for baby ella

candy- remember me?

looks tasty, no?

my first from scratch knit design. the idea is to have a pullover with a keyhole tie to easily fit over the little ones head without stress.

sweet ella

i love baby girls.

ms. ella inspired me to seek out some fantastic fabrics worthy of a small persons wardrobe.

these finds were snatched, cut up and embroidered onto soft white baby tees.



i have also been knitting for the little one. my favorite color when i was a girl was orange. now.. it calls to me again.

this cardigan originally began it's life to end up looking like the "chunky tweed cardigan" by erika knigh from the book baby bloom. this is my not so chunky and not even tweed interpretation. she's a summer baby :)

ok, guage is right but i ran out of yarn and was not able to find the same color. because of this i had to frog the sleeves and come up with an alternative.

sad to butcher the original beautiful pattern but in the end i did a single crochet around the front right & left and neck. also did a simple crochet border around sleeves and ta-da.

what i really like about this sweater is the silk ribbon embroidered flower. i dont know much about embroidery however.

kennel blanket for universal city animal hospital in memory of pepper from percy & opal

in memory of our best friend pepper- this was knit for the vets and staff at the universal city animal hospital for another small dog in need.


thank you to the lady wyvern on ravelry for the free dog bone chart.




....we will miss you always pepper....