My Blue Period

Picasso's blue period spanned three years of his works from 1901 - 1904 where he was hugely depressed and painted mainly in blues. In contrast I am not at all depressed, it's actually sunny in London, but I do happen to be knitting exclusively in blues at the moment. Yes, what you've just witnessed here is a very tenuous link between one of the greatest painters of our time and me based on the use of the word 'blue' only.

First I made some blue Kanoko pants, which is the secret baby knit I mentioned in my last post. It's the third time I've made these little baby trousers and the second time I've made them in the dreamy Mirasol Hacho. I love how it's quite sturdy and makes the stitches defined without being harsh to the touch.  I modified the pattern to eliminate the moss and garter stitch patterning, finished with a simple garter stitch hem and used elastic in the waistband again instead of ties. They're very cute and I can't wait to hand them over to the recipient!

A few days ago I started on a new project in the blue Rowan All Seasons Cotton. I bought it for a bargainous price from Liberty on a naughty lunch break and have four balls which will be enough to make the Baby Sophisticate cardigan by Linden Down. It's a free pattern and although there are warnings on Ravelry, that it comes up on the small side, I'm going to give it a shot in the larger size option anyway. He's 7 months now, I'm hoping to be finished in a couple of weeks - it's going to fit, right?

Finally I've made a good start on a new project for myself from the latest Pom Pom Magazine. A friend and I are a bit obsessed with this independent gem of a mag, but this is the first thing I'm going to be making out of it. I bought the yarn at Knit With Attitude last month and it's a brand I haven't used before called Du Store Alpakka Mirasol. However, I really must recommend it for it's soft as a kitten stroke-able qualities. I can hardly knit with it without wanting to rub it on my face for a bit.

The construction of the cardigan is quite different from anything I've made before. The back is in two pieces knit from the sleeve cuffs in towards the centre back. It took me a while to figure out exactly what I was knitting when I started out, but it's fun to be knitting something with an interesting construction as well as some lace for a bit of a challenge. It is of course blue.