We’re just back from a lovely week away in the Cairngorms. The holiday itself was great, but in knitting terms there’s been a few ups and downs! One of my very best friends has asked me to knit her a cardigan for her wedding. She liked my, Epsilon Cardigan Knitting Pattern so I’ve used the same kind of construction but amped up the lace a bit. I made a huge swatch to test that the lace worked out, but didn’t include much stockinette. How I have paid for that mistake! The gauge in my calculations was off by half a stitch in the “worked flat” sections, and by considerably more when worked in the round.

I think every knitter has probably gone through that denial of knitting a garment, especially with lace, and knowing it’s going to be the wrong size, but just thinking “it’ll all work out when I block it”. Blocking does not solve everything – it looked lovely but didn’t fit. So a week ago I had to bite the bullet and frog the stockinette. All of it. In 4ply yarn.

I’m a maths teacher, and I’m constantly saying to the kids that making mistakes is fine, you just need to learn from them. No need to get stressed, just go through it again and fix it. Maybe that has sunk in for me too, because to be honest, it was all pretty quick and painless to reknit. Being on holiday definitely helped, and we had a few bad weather days so I just curled up with a good book and my knitting and got through it.

We did manage to get lots of really nice walks in too. We’ve got a rescue Jack Russell Terrier who is very high energy so it was a real treat for her to get lots of good long hikes. The area round Aviemore is absolutely stunning too. We mainly kept to the footpaths near Loch Morlich, but every path you go down is absolutely stunning. Here’s a few highlights from the many, many photos:

And by the time we got back home, the cardigan was ready to block. Looking much better this time round! I'm writing the pattern up this week, so it should hopefully be tech edited and ready to purchase soon - I'll keep you posted!

Here's the gritty details:

For Suilven Cowl:
Yarn: Juniper Moon Herriot Fine (4ply)
Colourway Travertine (75% Alpaca 25% Nylon, 422 m/461 yds per 100 g)
1 (2) 100 g skeins = 422 m/461 yds (844 m/922 yds).
 
Dimensions: 75cm/30” (120 cm/47”) around, 38 cm/15” deep for both sizes.


and for the Suilven Hat:
Yarn: Juniper Moon Herriot Fine (4ply)
Colourway Travertine (75% Alpaca 25% Nylon, 422 m/461 yds per 100 g)
One 100 g skeins = 422 m/461 yds, with plenty of yarn left over.
 
Dimensions: Smaller size stretches to fit heads up to 54 cm/21.5” around. Larger size stretches to fit heads 55 cm/22” around and up.


and for both:
Needles: 4 mm/US 6  75 cm/30” circular needle
 
Gauge: 16 sts and 28 rows = 10cm in stocking stitch after blocking.
 
Extras: Tapestry needle for weaving in loose ends, one stitch marker.

Patterns include both charts and written instructions for the lace pattern. You should be able to make a hat and smaller size of cowl from a single skein and you can make a larger cowl with a hat using two skeins.

A chunky, textured, winter warmer classic earflap hat. And the pattern's free - what could be better?!

An oldie but a goodie! We posted this on our blogspot blog back in 2016 and definitely think it's worth a repost here to give you all a bit of summer knitting inspiration!