The Big Reveal - Outfit 4

I had planned to shoot the photos for Outfit 4 at the very lovely Italian deli down the road. But,  in the end, I never managed to pluck up the courage to ask them if I could take over their cafe in my pyjamas. Maybe another time ...

For now, you've got a very real location. Chez Myrtle.

Spring seems to have finally sprung and it's fantastic to be able to use our outside spaces again. The idea of spending over half the year eating inside doesn't feel quite right to my Kiwi self.  Plus, with four little kids around the table, it's not so crazy noisy eating outside ... On the other hand, it might be for our neighbours.

But, I digress ... Outfit 4 is finished!

My cardigan is soft, warm and I'm going to live in it. If you follow me on Twitter you may have heard about my panic finishing the sleeves. I wasn't sure that I'd have enough yarn and I didn't know whether to knit faster to see ... or put it down in fear. In the end I knitted like the wind ... and there was enough. Just. So, there are no pockets, but actually, I like its long clean line without pockets anyway. So I'm not too sad.

The collar is warm up around my neck and although the icord bind off up the front rolls inwards a bit, there's still lots of width in the front to keep me warm. Remember how I knit the sleeves from the top down? I didn't think to take into account that the pattern would have extra stitches added to the top of the body for seaming ... so my sleeves aren't as set in as they may have been. They're a slightly dropped sleeve instead. Lesson learnt :)

I also knit the icord bind off at the bottom of the sleeves with the needle I used for the arms. I didn't go down a needle size. Well, I did, but I thought it was a bit tight, so ripped back and did it again ... My Raverly project page is here.

Despite my disasters with twin needles, I think I'm getting better at stretch knit tops. I'm liking the higher neckline on this one and the narrow neck band. The curved bottom wasn't tricky either, I'm going to try that again.  I think you can almost see how soft the fabric for my top is. It's a pure cotton but it's quite silky and is going to be so comfy to sleep in. I'm just hoping that the colour lasts because I really like it just how it is.

My silky pj bottoms feel good too. They're roomy and long, but not so long that I trip over or stand on them. That's important. Store bought trousers are usually too long for me ... And, I just think they're so pretty. Super pretty.

Felted slippers are cool. If you haven't made these ones yet ... do! If you don't mind seaming, the pattern as written is a breeze. Converting them to an almost seamless pattern is fun if you fancy a bit of a challenge. I do think it's worth splodging the sock stop stuff on the bottom because it makes them feel a bit more substantial. 

Overall, they're warm and comfortable ... fingers crossed my toes don't go through the end too fast ... I want them to last. My Ravelry project page is here.

So there we are .. Ta da! Outfit 4. Phew. April was a busy month.

I'll be back to tell you all about my plans for May, soon.