Stranded knitting exercise

I'm a newbie in stranded knitting. I've already tried to work some motifs, but never knitted an entire project. I'd wanted to knit a dotty cardigan for my daughter for a long time, and tried to knit a swatch with alpaca yarn, always from Drops. The result was pathetic!


I thought I seriously needed exercises and decided to restart a long-abandoned project: Peerie Flooers by Kate Davies. I'd immediately fallen in love with this pattern and tried swatches with leftovers from a scarf project (left). The result (right) was rather lovely, but I didn't start the project as I wanted something vivacious like the scarf.


More than two years have passed since then and I've got wise (?), I now appreciate this tender colour combination.

This project was a good exercise for my right forefinger: I usually knit in continental style, but I held contrasting color yarns in English style throughout this project! And to my surprise, I got a better result than the swatch with alpaca yarn.


The yarn I used is Holst Garn Supersoft 100% Wool, that is somewhat rough before washing as you know. I think this roughness worked fine here: fibers of strands hold on, which keeps the fabric from puckering. I have to add that the English style made me knit with a looser tension.



The two sizes of the pattern are for adults, the S size was too tall for my daughter despite less repeats (3 rows of flowers instead of 4). I shortened the hat by rewriting the crown, with free OpenOffice spreadsheet!

I'll post photos of the hat "in practice" soon!