The observant reader may have noticed a few photos in recent posts of me knitting something new.  In case you didn’t pick up on that, here is another gratuitous photo of me knitting while on holiday in Sicily:

I finished up my Gold Shawl some weeks ago and had nothing lined up to take its place. Coincidentally, I finished it the evening before the girls arrived home for a holiday.  I decided that next on my list would be a sweater for Leah.  The problem was picking a pattern.  I knew some of the things I was looking for:

1. I wanted a summer cardigan.
2. I did not want a shapeless cardigan; it needed to have structure and preferably be knit in pieces and seamed.
3. I wanted to knit with a lovely, smooth, drapey, silky yarn (I was suffering from mohair overdrive).
4. I wanted something cute; a wear-with-a-pretty-dress cardigan.
5. Buttons would be good.  And short sleeves.  And an interesting neckline – maybe square and a bit low.
6. Most important of all, I wanted it to be a style which would suit Leah’s figure.

This last was the tricky part.  Leah is very curvy, and short-waisted.  She is not particularly tall.  I wanted a cardi that would fit over her curves at hip and bust, but not be too big in the back and at the shoulders.  I spent a long time scouring Ravelry looking for a pattern that would fit the bill.

Eventually, it occurred to me to look at an actual print book.  I have an entire bookcase just devoted to knitting and pattern books.  I used to spend forever pouring through them. Somehow I have gotten out of the habit and do almost all of my pattern searching online. This is a shame, as I have some very good resources.  (And it’s fun, too!)

I looked through Amy Herzog’s book, Knit to Flatter, because she is one of the people in the industry who really thinks about matching patterns to your body shape.  And there I found what I felt was the perfect pattern, with the (very creative) name Squared Cardigan:

It has really lovely, simple features.  I think it will be a very flattering shape on Leah.

While I am a fan of brown, I thought this cardi needed a pop of a sweet, summer colour.  I settled on a very pretty shade of Madelinetosh called Plunge.  Just the name of the colour makes me happy.  The yarn is Madelinetosh Pashmina, a beautiful blend of Merino, Silk and Cashmere.

I am enjoying knitting this up.  It seems to be flying along, and the Pashmina feels really good in the hands.  I finished the back while in Sicily, knit up the left front in Malaysia, and just finished up the right front while back home in England.

Unfortunately, Leah left on Sunday, so this one will have to be put in the post once I’m done.  I had finished enough of it before she left, however, to ascertain that the fit should be perfect.  Both girls are currently visiting their aunt in the Hamptons; lucky girls!