Love at first sight - Love in a mist

Remember, when a few posts ago I showed you the pile of handknits I've done, and wanted to show you? The time has come, and here is the first one of those. 

Whatever the title says, this was a long process... 

And as almost always, has a bit of a story. Years ago, I found a little more than three skeins of turqoise sock-yarn - some unknown brand- in a second hand store. Its color was a bit boring. 

No, I take that back, as we all know, there is no such a thing as a "boring turqoise", but I always felt it could be made a bit more interesting, so at one of my dyeing days, I dunked it into some dye. the plan was to make it semi-solid, but it became more contrasted than my original plan was, however, I absolutely LOVED it. 

So much that I was searching for the PERFECT pattern to use it. I knew that the 3 skein was too little to make a sweater on its own. At the same time, it was way to much to use as a contrast color for a sweater that has patterning on its yoke. 

I did try to make it into a striped cardigan with some pearl-gray DROPS Flora. Though I loved how the two yarns worked together, still I thought I have knitted a number of striped cardigans in the last few years, for now I wanted something else. So the yarn was languising in a bag, along with the Flora. For years. I did came across a few really lovely fair isle yoke sweaters, but I wanted something that has more patterning. At the same time, I wanted a pattern which has fine, almost filigree lines.

Is it only me, that as I grew older, my taste grews more peculiar? I like less and less things, and I am more and more decisive -at least with certain things- about what I like and what I do not like. Sweaters with stranded patterns are a premium example of this. 

So, it was a surpise when I first saw Elenor Mortensen's Love in a Mist pattern, how it hit me. It had all the right things. The drawing was very fine, I loved the lines, I loved the filigree (and still not the christmas-y/starry) motif. The patten didn't only went on the shoulders, the yoke, but run way down on the body and the sleeves. 

So I threw away everything else I was working on (including those stockings that should have been finished weeks ago). 

As usual, I could only follow the instructions until the sleeves and the body were separated. Which already was done at a slightly different place. Then, as I always do, added waist shaping, decreases and then at a bit more agressive increases for the hip area. I made the sweater longer,  and while I was at it, I added one repeat of the main pattern. The sleeves got those long ribbed cuffs I love so much that they are kind of my trademarks. 

While I was knitting the pattern I was absolutely enchanted, how the variation of the handdyed yarn's color popped up and worked with the pattern's lines. 

And it goes perfectly with the petrol colored trousers, I made... now, you see, why I needed this particular color, don't you?

Modelled photos, of course by @Bodeszphoto

Pattern: Love in a Mist by Eleneor Mortensen

Yarn: gray: DROPS Flora from Garnstudio, Petrol: handdyed sockyarn