Phebe

Hi!  Here's my third FO in a series of ten that my young neighbor, Jessica, modeled for me.  Phebe was a test knit way back in spring.  The designer, Sara Elizabeth Schmidt had designed a popular pattern sized for children called Loren Revisited.  I posted the pretty pattern link on my Knitionary Facebook page and it was crazy popular.  Many readers asked if the designer could scale it up for an adult, so I asked her.  She said she was busy for a few months, but had wanted to do that for a while and she would get to it soon, she promised.  I told her I'd test knit it when she had the pattern finished.  A few months later she sent the pattern to me and I dropped everything to knit it.  I had some ancient Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran in a lovely watery blue/green that was the perfect match.  Knitting garter stitch with an earthy tweed is like peas and carrots--perfect partners!  The pattern, as you can imagine, is very easy to knit and the resulting cardigan is more like a coatigan; bulky-thick, cozy and warm.  I absolutely love it's stylish simplicity.  It turned out to be my grab-and-go cardigan; in Northern California the weather is fickle and even in the summer, when the sun begins to set or if we drive to the mountains or to the coast, it can chilly quickly, so for that reason, I almost never leave the house without a sweater.

Did Jessica like it?  Yes, she did!  She was all smiles when she came out to model, saying, "Oh, I love this so much.  I feel like I'm Kate Middleton!"  Yes, I could see Princess Kate (or is she a Duchess, I don't really know!) wearing this--it seems like her style.  I asked Jessica if she would wear it a lot, and she said, "All the time!"  So now it lives with Jessica, and because I loved knitting it, I will make another for me.  

After Jessica modeled so beautifully for me, we went into my bedroom and opened my super-large sweater wardrobe and had a fun fashion show.  I was absolutely delighted to see how gorgeous she looked in everything.  You all know what a prolific knitter I am, and I couldn't possibly wear all the sweaters I've knit.  I love to hand out sweaters to my daughter and granddaughter, plus I have a few friends who wear my size.  Jessica ended up scoring and going home with a hefty bag of sweaters.  She emailed me and told me that on the first day of school she wore one of my Kim Hargreave's peplum pullovers knit in white cotton.  Of the sweaters I gave her, every one but two can be machine washed.  I recommended she get a sweater bag, and when washing, turn the sweater inside-out, put it in the sweater bag and wash in cool water on gentle cycle.  Tumble dry on low until almost dry.  While still damp, lay flat and pat to shape to finish drying.  This sweater above and another sweater, a Kidsilk Haze sweater, cannot be machine washed.  I told her when it was time to wash them, bring them over and I'll show her how I hand wash sweaters.  It's an art, right?  There's lots more beauties coming up, so stay tuned!