October Frost Fronts

I have started the fronts - both at once as you see here. I'm not all the way through the first repeat of the cable pattern for the fronts and I've already miscrossed a cable and had to drop stitches and loop them back up. Hopefully this will be the only time I have to do for the fronts. I washed the sleeves yesterday, not because they were dirty (Finn's kisses aren't dirty) but because it makes the yarn (Peace Fleece - Samantha Katya Pink) soften up, it makes the mohair bloom a bit, and after washing, I can block them while they're wet.

If you've never used Peace Fleece, you should give it a try. I've found that the worsted weight is comfortable knitted at 16 stitches over 4 inches (which is bigger than worsted weight, but they sell it as either worsted and sport weight). When you first get the skeins, the yarn feels very compact and has kind of a rustic, scratchy quality to it. Knitting with it feels different from most yarns - it's not really soft, but you can tell that whatever you're making will probably last forever without pilling. You don't really notice the mohair in the yarn either, while you're knitting. Once you wash Peace Fleece, it really comes alive. The scratchy qualities go away (although I still wouldn't want it next to my skin on my neck and chest - it's fine on arms though), the mohair blooms and makes it's presence known (not even really a haze - no where near the fuzz of La Gran), and the yarn plumps up and fills in the stitches. The more you wear it and wash it the better it gets. When I saw this cardigan pattern I could tell it would be a warm, workhorse kind of cardi - the type I throw on over my PJ's to take Finn out in the morning, tossed on to walk Caleb to school, and kept on all day long. You can't use a Merino yarn for this type of garment - it won't last a full season without pilling and looking sad. Peace Fleece is the kind of yarn that will rise to the challenge and not only last a season, but last for years, only getting better.

I promised a bit of a button Show and Tell today. I went through my button stash and didn't really find much of anything I liked, but here are two of the new button styles I got from Button Drawer. I've also got some on back order - they are Celtic Horse buttons and are 1 inch across. They are another possibility for this sweater, but I won't know until they get here and I can see them.

On the lower left is a dragon button - I couldn't pass these up. They are smaller than 1 inch (either 3/4" or 7/8", I can't remember) and probably aren't big enough for this cardi, but I just love them. On the lower right is a floral design with swirly things it has kind of a William Morris look to it and I'm really leaning towards this one for October Frost. If the horse buttons show up before I'm done, I'll decide between those and the one on the lower right, otherwise, this will be the button for my cardi. At the top is a fancy kilt pin (basically a big, honkin' safety pin) that I thought might be fun to use to pin a sweater togther. Neither Oblique nor the Minimalist Cardi have fastenings and using this pin would give either of them a completely different look. It's too heavy for a shawl, but it should work just fine on a sweater.

Have a great weekend and next week, I'll find Something Else to work on, so you don't have to look at October Frost all week!