Amsterdam: A Knitter's Souvenir

 Way back in 2023, I visited Stephen & Penelope in Amsterdam. And of course, I bought some yarn. I can't find a picture of the yarn in the skein. It was a fade of La Bien Aimée Super Sock yarns, in Vespiopeia, Jasper, Tidal Sand, The North, and Elise.

  

I came home with a fingering weight, super-wash array of yarn. But I realized I didn't want to knit a shawl, which is what most of the patterns for this yarn would fit. Time passed. I knit other things. And I got the idea of knitting a cardigan, and using Lamb and Kid's Birdie yarn as a carry-along, both to blend the colors, and to give the fine superwash yarns some body. I'd knit a cardigan, in the same shape as my favorite Pressed Flowers Cardigan. 

Last spring, my sister and I visited our dear friend who lives on Bainbridge Island. She's a knitter, so it wasn't hard to ask for a trip to Lamb and Kid. I chose the color Scout in the Birdie yarn, to go with my La Bien Aimée  yarn.

Last summer, I knit a couple of swatches with my yarn, to prepare for Julie Robinson's sweater design class at Shakerag Knitting Get-Away. I didn't design the sweater at that time, but I got lots of good tips, and encouragement from my classmates who loved the swatch with the two yarns together.

So eventually, I sat down with the schematic for Amy Christoffer's Pressed Flowers, my actual cardigan, my swatch and my calculator. I also did a little re-calculating part-way through the body, when I realized my working gauge may have shifted a bit. I faded the colors from dark at the bottom to lightest at the shoulders, with Elise, the near solid, as the ribbing.

And this spring, on our trip to Switzerland, I stopped at a amazing art, yarn, sewing, crafts, and costume store in Lucerne, and bought some wonderful buttons. 

And in the end, I got this great sweater!  

I (almost) can't wait for Fall. I love my sweater. I'm kind of proud of myself.  

Amsterdam 

• mostly designed by ME
• to the schematics of the Pressed Flowers Cardigan by Amy Christoffers, with shorter sleeves for shorter arms.
• La Bien Aimée Merino Super Sock, in colors Vespiopeia, Jasper, Tidal Sand, The North, and Elise. 75% superwash merino, 25% nylon, 465 yd per 100 g. One skein of each color. Lots leftover. 
• Lamb and Kid Birdie, color Scout (4 skeins) 74% Alpaca 20% Silk. 328 yds per 50g
• On US 5 needles (3 for ribbing, I think)