The Yorkshire Dales

Before going to the Lake District we spent a day in the Yorkshire Dales, another beautiful national park. It is much less touristy than the lakes, much more isolated and with a very different landscape, but equally impressive we thought. We had just enough time to drive through a few scenic routes and spend some time in the villages of Askrigg and Hawes, but I'm sure we'll come back to explore further soon.

:: at Thornton Lodge

:: the village of Askrigg

:: views from our drive

:: "wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit"

::  having lunch at the Charles Bathurst Inn, in Arkengarthdale

:: hummm, sticky toffee pudding ...

:: at Tann Hill, the highest inn in Britain

:: at Hawes

postcard from the lakes

We are back from a week long vacation in the Lake District. It was as beautiful as we expected it, and much more. I've finished sorting all our vacation photos - as usual, there are way too many - and will post some trip reports very soon. I did grab a copy of Mollie Makes while in the UK, and it was so exciting to see the printed article of my dog softie. Also, the magazine is lovely, full of great crafty projects and tutorials which I'm dying to try out soon...

mollie makes

I'm on this month's issue of Mollie Makes :-)
The project featured is the dog softie below, which I made specially for this issue.
Thanks to everyone who wrote or commented here to let me know they've enjoyed it !

Harvest Moon

I fell in love with this pattern because of the pockets.
And then later I fell in love with the yarn. It was my first project using Madelinetosh yarn, and I think I might have a new obsession. The colors are exquisite, and the yarn itself is just a dream to knit with, doesn't really compare to anything else. It's also the most expensive yarn I've ever used, so I guess it lived up to my expectations so far.

The pattern was very easy to follow, but my gauge was off, so although I initially started with a size S, I had to change to a smaller size afterwards.
A summary of the changes I made: 
- Only increased to 220 sts (between markers), knit till 19 cm yoke length and divided the body and sleeves according to this: 32 (right front) + 44 (sleeve) + 68 (back) + 44 (sleeve) + 32 (left front)
- Didn’t make the decreases on the sleeves as written, instead made the following on the last 2 rows:
R1: k2tog every 5 sts
R2: k2tog every 8 sts

The yarn bled somewhat when washed but it didn't seem to affect the original color. Also, the cardigan grew lengthwise with blocking (about 2 or 3 cm) which for this pattern was actually a good thing.

Note: not sure if it’s a fault of the pattern, the yarn or my loose knitting, but the yoke feels too loose and stretchy when wearing it, like it’s going to fall down any minute. To remedy this, I had to secure it with some extra bit of yarn at the top and bottom of the yoke so it wouldn’t stretch.

 
Pattern: Harvest Moon, by Heidi Kirrmaier
Yarn: Madelinetosh Vintage in Cousteau (5 skeins)
Ravelry project page

 

:: 2 years

She's officially a toddler now ...