Blossom is finished, and I love, love, love this sweater! I think this is actually the favorite one of all the sweaters I have knit in my life. Kim Hargreaves is such a genius, and there are so many things I love about the design of this sweater!
Dennis Basso: Violet,
antique rose, lavender, silvery taupe
I bought my lovely Tahari skirt fresh from this inspiring color palette—a
striking vision of a summer garden emerging out of the darkness.
I love the contrast between the bright
summer flowers and the somber black, and knew this would be a piece I could
pair with all kinds of feminine tops in both dark and light colors. My goal for spring was to
knit 2 sweaters to match my new wardrobe—the Panetone-inspired bolero from my last post, which goes with my blue
and green summer dresses and a waist-cinched top to match this stunning skirt,
which mirrors the flowers in my garden at dusk.
Once I saw Blossom, I knew I’d found the perfect compliment to Tahari’s fabulous skirt. I pair it with an ebony top underneath to
keep the contrast going between fresh spring flower colors and gloomy black.
One of my favorite features of the
pattern is the way that you can knit the flared skirt of the cardigan as
wide as you want over the hips, and then pick up enough stitches to make the
waist as small as you want. The pattern isn’t written that way, but all I did
was to make a large-sized peplum and then pick up enough stitches at
the waist for an extra small. A perfect way to accommodate a figure like mine which goes in very quicky at
the waist! Later I added extra stitches into the body of the sweater so that I
would have enough space for my bust to finish the hourglass.
The 4-ply cotton was a
dream to work with, as always. And I received invaluable guidance, support and cheering on
from Arianwen, knitter extraordinaire, and author of
the blog: The Silver Spider Presents. To read her blog account about knitting Blossom, click here:
This joyous experience with
Blossom has reinforced my profound admiration of Kim Hargreaves as
a designer of exceptional creativity, clarity and flair! Thank you, Kim Hargreaves, for my favorite cardigan!