Aislinn is a wonderful, figure-flattering design by Amy Herzog.
I chose to knit my cardigan out of Rowan's Calmer yarn instead of
the Plucky yarn the pattern called for because I wanted a black
cotton-blend sweater I could wear over dresses. The problem with
hand-dyed yarns is that they sometimes clash with printed fabrics.
The smooth black cotton is a more neutral frame for this print. I also
needed the strength and sheen of cotton to repel the whirlwind of
white cat hair that attacks most of my knitted garments.....
As you can see, Miro is all over my projects even before they leave
the knitting needles!
Amy Herzog put many thoughtful details into Aislinn, such as the
vertical panels of lace--there are actually three different lace patterns
used in the sweater. It was rather tricky keeping track of all three
patterns at once, but it was better than a crossword puzzle to keep my
mind occupied!
I thought it was interesting that Herzog wrote on the pattern that she
designed the cardigan for an hour-glass figure. The vertical lace panels
certainly draw the eye up and down, and the cast-on ties in the lace
panels draw attention to the waist.
I liked the lace because it created an interesting textural variation
that I think goes well with the rose-printed fabric of the dress.
I knitted the back of the sweater in a smaller size to ensure
that it would fit my shoulders but kept the sleeves a bit loose.
You can see the same eyelet lace pattern that is at the bottom
of the fronts of the cardigan also runs along the back and the
sleeve cuffs:
Do you think the vertical ribbing patterns compliment the
pleating detail of the rose-printed dress?
Speaking of roses, they are all over, aren't they?
Spring has sprung here in California, and it is
glorious to see the first blooms of the David Austin roses
in the garden. They remind me of Rainier Marie Rilke's
poem, "The Rose Interior. "
Where for this Inside is there
an Outside? Upon what pain
is such linen placed?
What skies find themselves reflected
in the inland lake
of these open roses,
these carefree ones, look:
how loosely in the looseness
they relax, as though no trembling hand
could ever spill them.
They scarcely can contain
themselves; many let themselves
fill up with inner space
until they overflow and stream
into the days, which keep on
closing fuller and fuller,
until all of summer becomes
a room, a room within a dream.
-Rainier Marie Rilke
New Poems
translated by Edward Snow