Gardenia

Pattern: Gardenia by Tina Hees from Verena 01 / 2013
Yarn: Alize Bella 100% cotton, 80g white colorway 01 and 110 g coral colorway 38
Needles: 2.5 mm rib, 3 mm body
Time to knit: one month

So, this is Gardenia - so much struggle for such a little cardi. I knitted it to my own proportions and gauge, changed (three times :))) the white neckband and button bands and omitted the ribbons.
I'm still not sure how I feel about it and I don't have many clothes to match it with. The yarn however is very soft and pleasant, I might use it again.

With this cardi I tried to step outside my comfort zone - a bit of vintage look, and I'm usually not into vintage and coral and off white - definitely not my colors. As a result I struggled with the process and feel doubtful about the result. Now I'm not sure should I urge myself to stray from the colors and style I've found to suit me in the course of four decades. Anyway and probably because of these doubts my next project is in a "safe" beige color and from a beloved designer.

Linked to Linda's Creative Friday for an abundance of this week's finished objects.

A Bag of Plans

As I promised, here's what was in the bag on the Day 27 picture:

On Day 27 of MMM'13 I was downtown to my favourite yarn shop and while there, I decided to visit the Burda shop. I browsed through the most recent issues of the magazine and my eyes were caught not by the latest 05 / 2013 issue, but by the March issue. The funny thing is that I bought the magazine for a dress in the small sizes (17-21) and only at home discovered that I much prefer a number of other patterns. All in all, a very successful issue, IMHO :), though the presentation of some of the patterns is awful. And it's a pity I don't speak German, but Google translator and daughter could help, I hope (The shop sells only the German language issues of the magazine).

Here are the patterns I fancy most and would like to make:

To the left is the dress in the small sizes, but now I think I prefer the one to the right, if I can find a suitable fabric:

I like the lace blouse (there's a tutorial on making this) and the lace skirt, the pencil skirt is interesting and most of all - the gathered cardigan. I really want it!

There's even a pattern of the long gypsy skirt I plan to make this summer. I'm short and long dresses and skirts do not suit me, but ... I still want one :)

I love everything on this page! The gathered cardigan, the orange shirt - I want this in the same color and fabric:

Here I like the yellow jacket (way out of my sewing league for now) and the pants.

The white dress, but in the shorter version and casual fabric is also interesting:

And I'm glad there's also a boy's shirt pattern:

And of course I also bought some new yarn - combed cotton and thin mercerized cotton. Last year I began Cobalt cardigan by Kim Hargreaves in a very twisted mercerized Egyptian cotton and halfway through the back abandoned the project as the yarn was not fitted for the texture of the cardigan. Actually, I turned the yarn into Gaby's blue cotton cardigan and it was just perfect for it. So this year I decided to give the pattern a second chance with this new yarn and so far I'm loving it, the combination of the two yarns reminds me of cappuccino and for a coffee addict like me that's always a good thing:)
This picture was taken yesterday and today I've doubled my progress. The pattern is not very easy, not very difficult and a bit addictive. To give you an idea - I've finished my Gardenia cardigan and I only have to attach the sleeves. But I just can't put the new project down to finish Gardenia (but I will, as in today!).

MMM'13 - Fourth Week

As was to be expected, the fourth week of the month is mostly repeats from the previous weeks. I do have other me-made clothes, mostly shirts, skirts and dresses, sewn when I was heavily into sewing, but most of them I don't wear any more or just didn't feel putting them on during the week.
I'm happy to report that Gaby continues to wear her cotton cardigans to school, she wore the blue cardigan yesterday and put on the lilac Joy this morning. I'm thinking of knitting her another one, probably in red, maybe with cotton and bamboo.

Day 22 - My most recent knit - Obsession by Kim Hargreaves. It was a good thing I added cotton to this bamboo, the soft bamboo thread is already showing signs of pilling.

Day 23 - Sabrina top, cotton and viscose.

Day 24 - Burdastyle 90s shirt. I have no recollection of the pattern, or even if it was a women's pattern or an adapted man's shirt, because back then I also made three checkered  shirts for my husband. I chose this photo for the blog because of the funny photobomb in the distance - a city child, running wild through the green meadows. She ran like that most of the time and also rolled on the grass - the call of the wild, what can you do :))))

Day 25 - My Christina again. Well, it's obvious, this is my favourite summer cardigan. I love its terracotta color and feminine design, Kim is a genius.

Day 26 - Miette. If it wasn't for MMM, Miette would have been my every second or third choice, it goes so well with all of my dresses.

Day 27 - And another easy choice  - the Vine Yoke cardigan. Soft and very comfortable. I'll tell you what's in the bag in my next post :)))

Day 28 - One of the self-sewn dresses I mentioned at the beginning, very flattering design. It was actually a long dress, which I cut short the next season - I think short dresses suit me better. And obviously a parade of cardigans couldn't be complete without Quanun. I'm thinking of a shorter cardigan with 3/4 sleeves, based on the Quanun silhouette. If you wonder why I am always carrying this bag - because it is big enough for the camera and sometimes tripod I bring with me :)

Kyustendil

Kyustendil is a  pleasant town in the western part of the country, only 100 km from Sofia, situated at the foot of the Osogovo mountain. On our way back to Sofia we stopped there for an hour or so and strolled along the streets of the town center. And because it is famous for its cherry orchards, we returned home with an enormous bag of gorgeous cherries (at a very reasonable price :)) 

Just a few glimpses of the town:

Osogovo

Yesterday we went to Osogovo Mountain, some 110 km from home. We had been planning the hike of Mount Ruen (2251 m) for a while, had a reservation at the Three Beeches Hotel up at the mountain, etc. But! Although the forecasts were for chilly but sunny day, the weather in the mountain was too cold but most of all dangerous for a 9 hours hike in the open to the top, as the clouds boded thunderstorms. We went to the hotel, spoke with the manager there and decided not to take the risk. The temperature around the hotel grounds was 6C and it would drop as we got higher. There had been a lightning incident with a tourist the previous week. So we decided to cancel our reservation and to come back in a month or so. Instead we went back down the mountain, stopped the car near a path we liked and went for a short walk in the woods, then had a picnic and just hiked around the green hills.

Doesn't this place remind you of the green hills in The Hobbit?

I have a new favourite mountain. Can't wait to get back there and actually climb Mount Ruen.