Miranda

Everytime a new issue of Let's Knit pops through my letter box, I'm in shock. Has another month really gone by? Then I rip it open and flick through to see which of my designs is in this issue. And this month I'd like to introduce 'Miranda' knitted in Debbie Bliss Bluefaced Leicester Aran which is gorgeous.

This sweater is worked in the round to the armholes, then the front and back are worked separately to the shoulders which are joined using a three needle cast off. Stitches for the sleeves are picked up and the caps shaped by short rows and the sleeves knitted in the round  to the picot hem. Which means if you'd like longer sleeves, just keep on knitting. You'll need more yarn and you may wish to decrease a little bit more too but it's easy to work that out as you go, just keep trying it on. And when the knitting is done, all you need to do is weave in the ends and block/press the sweater and you're done.

If you follow me on Twitter you may remember one VERY HOT Sunday afternoon in June or July when I was complaining about knitting on an aran weight wool sweater. Well, this was that sweater. Thank you to my knitter Susan who knitted most of it but she ran out of yarn. So while I was waiting for more yarn to arrive, she sent the sweater back to me and I knitted the second sleeve. As the garment is knitted in one piece I had the whole sweater in my lap. I love sweaters knitted in the round and if it had been mid-winter it would have kept me lovely and warm but a pile of aranweight wool on a hot summers day is not much fun. But I love the finished result.

The cables are very easy to work and perfect for learning to cable without a cable needle. In the magazine photos the sweater is styled with a gorgeous skirt (I'd love that skirt, wonder if they do it in my size? Looks like it's from New Look which means probably no). But you can also wear 'Miranda' over a long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans on a chilly autumn or winter weekend. Start knitting it now and you'll have a lovely sweater to wear by the time the cold weather arrives.

This issue is Let's Knit's Christmas issue (although I think there's more Christmas stuff in the next issue). I do find Christmas in September a bit depressing to be honest but this magazine does have some great Christmassy patterns including Christmas decorations and if you want to knit things for Christmas you better get started soon. You can see all the other patterns here.