March 22, 2005

Project details: Kid Mohair cardi, pattern 4 from Phildar's Kid Mohair pattern leaflet 2005. I knit the 34/36 size, and used less than 5 skeins of Kid Mohair in Amande and 3 skeins of Sunset in Azur. And because the knitting gods are being kind to me after the torturous finishing nightmare I had with this cardi, Saturday was IDEAL Kid Mohair cardi weather so I was able to give the cardi a proper debut! I was planning on wearing the cardi for dinner out, but with perfect daytime cardi weather, my impatient self just couldn't wait until the evening to wear it. I wore it out to lunch, for a visit downtown, grocery shopping and then for a manicure. And here's a photo of the cardi acting like a tourist at la fresque des Lyonnais during its debut (with a BONUS of a mural slideshow!):



["I Love Lyon" footnote: La fresque des Lyonnais is found on the corner of quai St-Antoine and rue de la Martinière in the first arrondissement. The mural is on all sides of the building, and the side shown in the photo above has images of luminaries from and around Lyon. The higher you go up the fresque, the further you go back in time. Lyon is a literal gallery of trompe l'oeil murals; another one I've shown previously is le mur des canuts where I debuted my Phil Ruban cardi. End of "I Love Lyon" footnote.]

Things I did when I knit the cardi: Lemme see...tubular cast-on for the hem and cuffs. Shoulders were joined using backstitch. Sleeve and side seams were joined using mattress stitch. Front bands were also sewn using mattress stitch. The buttonhole was easy; while sewing the front band to the neck a space was left open for the button. That's it! But being the anal-retentive perfectionist that I am, I didn't weave in the ends where the buttonhole was located. I got a crochet hook and used the ends to create a slip stitch finish around the free edges of the buttonhole. Oh! And the button. I am so enamored with that button. I ordered it at my local Phildar boutique as it's the one called for in the pattern. It's pearly and shiny and the right shade of green and almost wafer-like in its thinness. And that's the end of my long run-on sentence because it's time for customary whack dance rabbit shots, where I RAWKED OUT with my sparkly cardi that makes me wannabe a rock star:




*I had initially planned on wearing the cardi with high-waisted tweed pants and a tucked-in blouse. But while window shopping a few weeks ago I saw the layered look for spring all over the shop window displays in Lyon: These little-nothing tops and camisoles worn long under short feminine cardis. When I saw this lacy camisole, I just had to get it so I could wear it this way under my Kid Mohair cardi and with what my husband calls my "rock star" jeans. After years of wearing stuffy lawyer attire, it gives me a kick to knit this kind of stuff and wear it any way I please. I love me a good trend.

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