Ready for some summer knitting?

In February I was very busy working on designs for the new Manos del Uruguay Serena which is a gorgeous cotton/alpaca blend. When I first heard it was cotton/alpaca I wasn't sure. I thought it may be a bit heavy. But when I got some of the yarn to swatch with I fell in love with it. It's so light and gorgeous to knit with. It has very good stitch definition and creates even stitches (which is unusual for cotton or alpaca yarns). It's slightly thinner than a standard dk yarn. I think this is perfect as an all year yarn. The colours I've seen are gorgeous and includes solid, semisolid and slightly variegated colours. Colour repeats in Manos yarns tend to be short so pooling is less of a problem. Yarns are hand-dyed so there may be some variation between skeins but I didn't find this a problem.

I had two fantastic knitters helping me. I couldn't have done it without them. thank you to Craftie Pixie and Anita (I must find out if Anita has a blog).

So grab your needles and choose your favorite and get ready for some summer knitting. These patterns are available from Artesano/Manos del Uruguay stockists in the UK and I think also in Sweden, Germany and France.

These designs are part of the English Garden Collection, hence the names, and has a very summery feel. There are other designs in the collection too by Sue Hanmore, Pat Menchini and Julie Ferguson. They are all gorgeous designs. Check them out next time you visit your LYS. These patterns are  available from Artesano/Manos del Uruguay stockists in the UK, Sweden, Germany and France.

Lavender is longer length lacy top worked in two pieces. The top has a pretty lace pattern, short sleeves and round neck line. Perfect summer top to wear over leggings for cropped trousers. 

Lemon Balm is a sleeveless, v-neck top with a zig zag eyelet pattern. Perfect top for summer.

Parsley is a stocking stitch t-shirt with a pretty lacy rib at the hems and around the round neckline.

Rosemary is a pretty, lacy top with 3/4 lengths sleeves and v-neck. Some gentle shaping is worked changing needle size. This was the sample I knitted up and I enjoyed knitting it. I'd love to knit myself one of these but I doubt I'll have time.

There's been plenty of knitting going on here and some spinning but I'll talk about that next time.