O hai. Official Photographer has suddenly decided that knitters worldwide would rather look at my face than at my FINISHED OBJECT. I do not know if this is because Official Photographer dislikes my new summer cardigan or if he just finds me more interesting than the cardigan. Regardless, this is probably the best shoot from our foray into the Botanics glasshouses. In the photo I'm trying to look fascinated by cacti, in case you are wondering.

The cardigan, then.

Pattern: Serenity from Rowan Studio 15 by Sarah Hatton. Yarn: Rowan Summer Tweed, sh. 537 (Summerberry). Needles: Clover Bamboo Circs, 4mm & 5mm. They're actually my favourite circs for knitting garments. Sturdy, flexible and not too pointy.

I opted for size L, but the cardigan feels very roomy on me, so I should probably have gone a size down (not often I get to say that!). I made a few mods (adding an inch of length to both body & sleeves) and picked up fewer stitches for the neckband. My main modification was probably pinning the frill to the body and picking up stitches for the neckband through both frill and body, rather than sew the frill in place and then pick up stitches. My method reduces the amount of bulk you get.

My favourite parts of this project? Probably being able to finish a sleeve in an evening (because I loathe knitting sleeves) and I also really enjoyed how the frill was constructed. Knitting this rekindled my knitting mojo and I liked the slightly fiddly construction (I mean, this could totally be a top-down cardigan, but the designer had other ideas and I learned a lot about garment construction from knitting this).

Currently I'm eight rows away from finishing a shawl I began back in November, so I foresee plenty, PLENTY, of new projects in the forthcoming weeks. The new Kim Hargreaves book is published tomorrow (and I seriously hope the postie has a delivery for me) and I have my beady eye on Peace which is a shaped cardigan with moss stitch details knitted in Handknit Cotton. Which shade, which shade? I'm thinking a neutral colour might be an interesting challenge.. However, before I begin plotting Kim Hargreaves designs, I have a long list of things I want to knit. Small, fun things. Maybe even a shawl or two..