I’m sorry its been a bit quiet around here, I have had a busy couple of weeks with nothing much exciting to report EXCEPT what I’m about to show you. I have another finished jumper to show, this is my version of the Puffin Sweater by Kate Davies, but I chose to make it in natural shades of Shetland Wool and into a Cardigan.
The first time I met Kate was when she was up in Shetland taking photos for her book Colours of Shetland and she took in the original Puffin Sweater to show us at Jamieson & Smith. I hadn’t been working there very long and although I was doing machine knitting at college my hand knitting skills were pretty non-existent… but when I saw that jumper I fell in love. At Wool Week in 2012 at the Trunk Show Kate held at J&S with the pieces from the book I couldn’t help fondling the jumper longingly and trying it on, Kate told me I could definitely make it. I smiled and nodded but thought.. no way.. because the construction looked quite complicated to me at the time. Its really very cleverly written and once you get the pattern into your head it actually makes for very easy knitting.
A bit later on, about this time last year, my skills were getting better and probably bolstered by Sandra that I work with (who can knit anything) I deceided I would make it!! But me being me, I thought, ill make it into a cardigan.. then.. ill also do it in natural colours! I love the original colours and would still love a jumper in them. I cant remember now where i got the idea from, Isnt that terrible? But I also deceided that I would make the body and sleeves on my knitting machine. So in one day last year, I did the whole lot.. in one day! There really is no excuse as to why I’m finishing it now.. but i made a mistake when picking up the yoke which i ignored for a while.. until October last year when I ripped all that out.
I chose to use Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight, which is beautiful wool to work with, as its totally undyed the wool has a very nice bouncy feeling to it and when its washed it settles really nicely. I did a lot of swatching for the yoke colours and I’m glad I did, as a result I’m very pleased with my blending..Through my swatching I couldn’t get to the seven shades I needed so I ended up using six, but I think they look really good together, I went for Shetland Black shade 2005 as my main shade with 2009,2003,2008,2006 and 2001 being my contrast shades. So in just under a week and a half I have done the yoke and finished my cardigan, I am so happy with it. I think Kates recent blog about all the Puffins people have made gave me the kick up the bum to finish it off, I will say though, I do become rather efficient when I’m nearly finished something.. It can just take me a while to get to that point, but I’m sure knitter everywhere understand that.
As usual Kate’s pattern writing is so easy to follow and well written, I often pull my sleeves up so I went for three quarter length sleeves and it was very easy to turn it into a cardigan. I made the fronts flat on the machine and when i was picking the seperate pieces for the yoke I casted on 10 extra stitches for the steek, I did all my colour changing in the middle of those stitches so when I sewed up either side of the steek and separated the front all the ends were cut away!
I have recently aquired a chunky knitting machine (thanks ebay) so I’m hoping this will speed up my progress for all the icelandic style yokes I have planned, and plain knitted jumpers too, Really my knitting plans are never-ending.. but I currently have two on the needles that I think will be all hand-knitted.
The nights are getting lighter in Shetland but the weather has been pretty poor so I’ve not had any chance to take photos outside, hopefully that will change!
Happy Knitting x
ella gordon 
This has turned out really, really bonnie. It is one of the things on my long “to do” list but that has made me want to cast it on now!
This turned out very cute – nice job!
It’s lovely, Ella! I really like it in the natural Shetland colours!
What a gorgeous cardigan, Kate designs some beautiful garments but your adaptation is super. Well done!
Absolutely gorgeous. I love that pattern.
Jacqui
Now that is stellar! What a great job. I have a hard time redoing colours on a garment I see but you have done a marvelous job…I could ‘copy’ that :)
Very jealous – have been wanting to do Puffin but in browns. A character wore something very similar in the first ‘Shetland’ (BBC) last year & it’s been an object of desire ever since. Well done you ;)
Thank you, have a look at this project on ravelry! she was inspired by the same jumper: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Maud-Bailey/puffin-sweater
Ah ha ……. great minds & all that !!! Must stop dithering and crack on, no excuses ;)
Gorgeous! I keep thinking about trying Puffin as a cardigan, some day I may get round to it. Your shades are beautiful.
So elegant! Now if I only had a knitting machine, my stash might not be such a weight on my shoulders :-)
I’d love to say it helps but it really doesn’t!! haha, my stash is as big as ever, and cones take up more room!
I love the natural colours. This is a grand job. Well done.
That you use six instead of seven colours doesn’t diminish it the least, you’ve made a really pretty puffin. Good job on changing it to a cardigan!
That is lovely and it works really well as a cardigan, you’ve inspired me – I will admit to knitting machine envy for all the stocking stitch though!
Beautiful sweater. For someone who sounded so hesitant to get started you did a fantastic job. Well done!!! Love the color changes too. I think I might like to make one with the yoke in greens.
hello ella! oh goodness where to begin? i love your sweater, beautiful knitting and looks wonderful on you. i’ve just had the most enjoyable evening reading through your blog (i couldn’t stop!). you have the most lovely positive outlook, it really just comes through in all you do and make. LOVE LOVE LOVE your house pillows, i have a deep affection for house pillows (i know) well, thank you very much for all you share. greetings from the central coast of california! x lori
Thank you Lori and thank you so much for your lovely comment, it has made my day! I’m so glad you like my blog :)
Gorgeous! I love Shetland Supreme and it looks very lovely in that soft graded yoke…
Nice score in the chunky machine too- I’ve been watching out for one for ages. It’s lovely to be able to do the hard yarns of stocking stitch on the machine and then the interesting stuff by hand, isn’t it?!
Enjoy- it looks lovely on you!
Thank you, and definitely agree on the machine knitting. I have so many things planned and not enough time to hand knit! Haha
The natural shades are elegant, and so is the fit of the cardigan. Well done!
Beautiful-looks like a very easy sweater to wear every day!
I have yarn all spun up for a Puffin but haven’t started knitting yet!
Ooh I love it! Well done!
Love the 3D effect of the shading – very clever!
Heather
Ella
Your cardigan is gorgeous and you look stunning wearing it! Bravo for you!
I will admit that I’m not a keen fan of the puffin sweater until now. I adore what you’ve done with this pattern and I love your colour choices, it looks really good on you.