"Neighbor Cat" Is Officially Replaced! And Candice by Kim Hargreaves

HEY WAIT A SECOND -- how did Neighbor Cat get into this blog post?! You little rascal. I thought I was done with you back in Montréal:

Hmm, the blanket looks familiar, but YOU DON'T. Where's your tan? Are you sure you're Canadian? You look more like a crustacean than a lion.  Come to think of it, I think you're a Mainer.

Yep, you're definitely a kitty who grew up by the sea. I shall call you Tiger Shrimp! I will scoop your Bar Harbor poop and serve you Acadia National Park landlocked salmon bits. Are you satisfied? Can you now stop hogging by blogging? Thank you.

you little imp.

Now that I've overthrown the feline coup, let me introduce you to Candice instead! This is a fabulous little essential from the Kim Hargreaves book Honey. It's made with a Rowan rayon/cotton/linen yarn called Panama.

You can't have enough simple pocketed cardigans, in my opinion. BUT because they aren't usually challenging to make, I tend to buy them instead of knit them. I decided to dive into this one because it had enough thoughtful design elements to make it worth my while:

1. Deep ribbing
2. Adorable pockets
3. A sweet little button band cable with ingeniously hidden buttonholes
4. A TON of buttons to stash bust with
5. A somewhat challenging Rowan yarn I'd never tried

I almost never have to fiddle with a Kim Hargreaves pattern, and this was no exception. She knows how to make a pattern that fits, that's the bottom line! I did have a complete snafu with the pockets due to a brain lapse or something. When I had already finished one front half, I realized that the hole I had made for the pockets was much closer to the ribbing than it should be... hmm. 

I must have counted wrong -- but if you've ever knit with Panama (more on that later), you would agree with me NOT to frog and just accept a vestigial pocket! Let's just say that I wouldn't consider a credit card safe in there, lol.

Here in my isolated part of Maine, I have a button problem. It's not too hard for me to find a small number of maybe-good buttons -- but it is nearly impossible for me to find A LARGE NUMBER of any buttons, good or bad! And ordering online never seems to give a satisfying result, so imagine my complete delight when I realized my stash had ELEVEN matching perfectly sized buttons. Phew!

Of course, 11 matching buttons takes 11 extra minutes to button right.  😅

And now let's talk a little about the yarn, which I have a love and hate relationship with.

I struggle knitting with many cotton/linen yarns because they are hard on my hands. WELL this one takes the cake for mega hard-to-knit-with yarns. Not only does it stick to your needles and require quite a push to move along -- but the yarn is woven together in a way that each stitch needs vigilating to make sure it sits right! If the flatness of it gets twisted, the stitch will be overly big. And even if you're careful, you are definitely going to occasionally stab a small piece of the weaving and catch it in a bad way. Basically, if you were to say my wool speed was a 10 out of 10, my Rowan Panama speed would be a 4. 🐌

But but but.... THE DRAPE! It's beautiful! It's cool to the touch! It's the best summer yarn you could ever want to wear!

So far I've worn it in San Diego, Hawaii, a Maine summer... perfect, perfect.

So, my verdict? This is the perfect essential cardi made in the perfect yarn.... if you are willing to knit with it!

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And now for what's new with me. We rescued Tiger Shrimp from the SPCA of Hancock County when she was 6 months old. She was very small for her age, so she started with the name "Microcat"  -- or as my french-speaking husband would say, "Microchat". But what else is small? A shrimp. An impy shrimp! She looked just like a shrimp before you cooked it.

Someday I will put her in a steam shower and she will turn pink. 🐯🍤

Don't you dare put me in the shower.

She likes all things Rowan, which is good for a Rowan Brand Ambassador's cat, no? Her favorite yarn is Kid Classic:

And her favorite perch is a pile of Rowan Magazines, naturally:

In other news, it was my honor to be featured in the Knitters of the World segment of the Fruity Knitting podcast! This 22nd episode is definitely worth a listen, as it features some mega knitting wisdom from the great Ann Budd:

As you may have guessed by me saying I had already worn my Candice in many places -- I finished her quite awhile ago, dare I say a year ago?? I have 4 other finished sweaters to show you too, yikes. But those will have to wait. Here's my current project that Tiger Shrimp was playing with, "Ariel", a men's sweater from Rowan Mag 60...

One more thing, I'll have a VERY interesting product review for you next week from the maker of my favorite blocking wires, Lazadas. Here's a sneak peek!

AND if you've been teetering on the edge of splurging for a mystery yarn box/pattern subscription, I'm getting a Knitcrate in February to see what the hoopla is about. They gave me a coupon to share with you too, take 20% with the code "DK20". See you next week!

See my Candice on Ravelry

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