Last knitting article before more sewing I promise! My fourth and last knit of an 8-week lock-down was the Enchantée Sweater by Atelier Emilie in royal blue for my elder daughter – beware that I am due to explore all shades of blue in the near future, as this is her absolute favourite colour!

After my recent wave of knitting articles, you are probably well aware that I adore knitting lace. After the Blossom motif which I explored extensively ( one shawl, two jumpers, two cardis here and here), I fell in love with the Enchantée lace when seeing it on Atelier Svila’s blog.

However I was not overly keen with the dropped shoulders and the loose fit. So I decided to follow the pattern very loosely. So from the inital pattern I kept:

• the lace motif – I adore foliage lace and have been on the lookout for some time; and this motif has the added bonus of being extremely easy to memorise.
• the i-cord finish of the neckline. I was never keen on the traditional ribbing finish and i-cord is genius idea, it is a perfect match with the delicate details of the lace!

But otherwise I made a number of changes:

• I worked with completely different yarn and needles to what is recommended ( double strand of Drops Kid Silk 21 cobalt blue and Drops Baby Merino 33 electric blue), so ended-up with a completely different gauge – not a problem as I wanted the exact same size and shape and my blue Blossom sweater and the Enchantee lace is very similar size to the Blossom one (17 stitches wide versus 16).
• I wanted a close fit and reasonably short length; so I cast on 8 motifs of the lace, knitted 3 cm of ribbing and then the lace up to under-arm (37cm in total) in the round. I then split the back and front, knitted another 10cm at the front and started the neckline decrease, following the pattern indications. I knitted 19cm in total from underarm to top for sleeve opening.
• For the sleeve head, I dislike the dropped shoulder effect, so I used German short rows to create a rounder should head: cast on 56 stitches, knit full 56, then knit 34 and back 6 then German short rows adding one stitch at each row end until only 6 stitches left ofn each side; then knit everything on the round, decreasing by 2 stitches every 16 row.

Nothing utterly complicated but quite a different look from the initial jumper, much more to my and my girl’s liking!

Now I am pondering whether I should knit an Enchantee cardi, how typical…

Sewing other garments than dresses (!!!) was one my challenges for Autumn 2020. And I managed! Let me introduce you to my Pascal shorts by Coralie Bijasson.

I love shorts for the colder months but I haven’t worn them for ages, as I couldn’t find a shape I liked, either ready-made or for sewing. So when I saw Joviana 2’s versions of the Pascal short on Instagram, I was over the moon: a very plain model with a slightly trapeze shape and a low waist, exactly what I needed. That said the overskirt version is definitely not my cup of tea!

Theses shorts are incredibly easy to make: the pattern has very few pieces (5!) and requires less than a metre of fabric. It is the perfect pattern to optimise fabric leftovers, which was another of my goals for this season.

My first version is in a blue brocade fabric from Amothreads. Initially I wanted to use this fabric for a midi skirt, but the supplier only had 1m left, which he kindly gave me for free! I cut a size 38, slightly shortened the legs, added some silver pipping and entirely lined the shorts (because brocade tends to be itchy, as I previously discussed in this article).

Ce short a le net avantage d’être très bien assorti au joli pull Enchantée tricoté pour ma fille – comme elle porte un uniforme toute la semaine je peux lui emprunter sans aucune culpabilité!

My second version is in brocade too, from the same Amothread supplier, but this time I used real fabric leftovers! They come from a midi pleated skirt, for which I hope to publish the tutorial soon. It is the exact twin of my first version except for the piping, which I omitted this time.

I am extremely please with these shorts! And also by how well my Autumn wardrobe is taking shape. More to come on the blog soon!

Aside from all the rest, I will definitely remember 2020 as the year of my knitting revelation. After ages of being intimidated by knitting patterns, everything finally clicked! As a result: 12 cardigans, 7 jumpers and 2 shawls knitted with love over the past twelve months.

Favourite patterns: Belladonna, Enchantee and Blossom

My most knitted and by far favourite pattern this year is the Belladonna cardigan by Andi Satterlund. I knitted four versions over 2020 (and I don’t rule out more versions in the near future…): pale blue, royal blue, black and purple – the only one not reviewed on this blog is the purple, completed just before the Christmas school break, parents will understand me…

I adore this pattern for its beautiful lace inserts – there is literally lace everywhere except on the sleeves; and its absolute perfect fit. I raised the neckline for my black and purple ones and it makes them much more versatile, so maybe the low neckline is the only negative of this pattern.

My second favourite pattern this year is the Enchantee sweater by Atelier Emilie – three jumpers knitted here (royal blue, baby pink and lilac), all for my teenage daughters.

I am a huge fan of knitted lace leaves and this pattern is so easy that it can become quite addictive. I substantially reduced the smaller size to fit my daughters’ FR 38/ UK 10/ US 4, as neither of us is into loose sweaters – 4 repeats of the lace at the front and at the back are amply sufficient.

And my third favourite pattern is the Blossom jumper by Along avec Anna (2 jumpers, 3 cardigans).

I had already knitted the Blossom shawl at the end of 2019 and I think it is the project that really got me into knitting lace.

Knitting the jumper turned out to be thousand times easier than the shawl (which is quite complex as you have to manage increases on top of the lace chart). I knitted two jumpers for my daughters but the first one turned out far too large…

Here again this pattern is quite loose-fitting, so for my second version I substantially reduced the sizing.

The lace is so beautiful that I also self-drafted an all-over lace cardigan on the basis of the jumper – the Blossom cardigan pattern exists but the lace sadly appears only on the back, definitely not enough for me! I knitted a white and a coral version, both reviewed on the blog; and also a duck blue one, more on this later.

Favourite designer: Andi Sutterland

My absolute favourite designer of the year is Andi Sutterland, creator of Untangling Knots. This year I knitted nine Untangling Knots cardigans: Belladonna (x4), Salal (x2), Agatha (x1) and Wainthropp (x1); and two jumpers: Chuck x2.

I had been eying Andi’s patterns for many years, solely for their style: they have this consistent 50’s fitted-and-cropped shape that goes so well with my staple fit-and-flare dresses. But when I started using the patterns, I had a big surprise: they are so amazingly clear! Everything is written down line-by-line, in the most simple manner, it is truly amazing! After that, it is really hard to follow other more convoluted instructions. And the fit is always spot-on, so no bad surprises on sizing. I am definitely a fan.

And a few flops obviously…

In case you are wondering, not everything went smoothly this year. My major disaster was at the beginning of lockdown 1, when I re-knitted three times a cardigan in size 3 needles, to realise it was far too big and my knitting was completely irregular. No picture for this one, it went directly to the bin.

A smaller-scale disaster was a recent baby project, for which I knitted the entire body and a full sleeve but then in a moment of madness pulled on a string… and unravelled everything… Arrrggghhhh!

My other fail was my red Salal cardigan, for which I did not use the right wool – it ended up too big and with a very irregular texture I abhor. This one went to the charity shop.

And a semi-fail: a Blossom cardigan for my daughter, longer than mine and in the colour she asked for… and which hasn’t been worn a single time! Oh well…

Conclusion: my most relaxing hobby

Knitting is such a different hobby to sewing !While I’m so focused on the end when sewing, when I knit it is more the process than I enjoy. Projects take so long anyway that there is no point counting the hours spent! If you haven’t tried I definitely recommend you give it a go!