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| My version of the Nicklas Cardigan from MillaMia. |
When you work around so much yarn like I do you have to become very hardened to temptation & a sort of 'Yarn Blindness' starts setting in after a while. Like an addict you start prowling around the mill seeking new yarns, new fibres, new colours - all to feed that need of what is next, new & exciting.
Over the non existent Summer months in Hawkes Bay, I took on a small commission piece for a friend. Usually I avoid these as I barely have time to do my own knitting, or knitting for Skeinz, but in this case I was caught at an overally generous moment & agreed to knit a toddler cardigan, on the proviso that I had no fixed deadline. I was provided the pattern & as the sex of the child was undetermined, I got free reign on the colours. Merino Soft White, Navy & Lime.
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| Nicklas Cardigan from MillaMia.com |
The pattern (from MillaMia) printed in the May 2011 issue of the Australian WW was designed for 4ply merino - so our Merino Soft fit the bill perfectly. Now Merino Soft is one of our oldest yarn ranges. NZ babies have been enveloped by its gentle caress for decades & I hadn't knitted a project in it for years. So I cast on the project in late Spring & slowing chipped away at it over the holiday months completing it last week. This is when the revelation happened. The more I worked on this, the more I kept thinking how good the yarn was to work with. How soft, great stitch definition, excellent bold colours. Where on earth had this wonder yarn being hiding?
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| Swatching & prep work for Cria |
Just as I was completing this project I was also swatching for another. A knit along with a couple of friends of Ysolda Teague's Cria from her book Little Red in the City. I swatched Prism Limited edition colour Dark Cerise, Harvest's New Leaf, Vintage. All reached the required gauge - just, but they weren't quite right. Then again, like a blinding light it hit me - Merino Soft. So I swatched Merino Soft Barney Purple & the reached the required gauge effortlessly. How could this be - why have I not seen this yarn before?
Like a blind woman after cataract surgery I was seeing what was right in from of me fresh again in a new radiant light. Merino Soft 4ply - Hiding in plain sight.
