Love Note Friends

When I got back from Paris, Alexa was working on a new Love Note sweater for herself, and so I thought… hmmm perhaps during the KAL I’ll make one too! Well, as per my standard practice, I did NOT finish my second Love Note before the deadline (because deadlines are made to be broken, apparently?!), but I did bind off eventually!

I’d bought some LOVELY Rainbow Heirloom kidsilk cloud in ‘favourite aunty’ at EYF 2019, and had decided it would be the mohair part of my sweater. But it took some swatching to decide what sock weight to hold alongside this mohair. To learn more about mohair blending, check out this post which has MANY more examples!

After ALL the swatching I decided on Rainbow Heirloom’s Solo Light in ‘killer flamingo’ to go with my ‘favourite aunty’ mohar. I got started, and was surprised once more at just how fast the knitting on this project goes. I think it was perhaps 2 evenings of knitting and I was through the yoke? For me, straight-up stockinette is more painful, so the body and sleeves took a little longer!

I modified the pattern slightly, since I already had one Love Note in my wardrobe. To make this one a bit different, I knit the body bit longer (adding 1.5-2″), and worked long sleeves with longer, more relaxed cuffs (I decreased to 36 sts, rather than 28, and ribbed for 2”).

Since we launched Love Note, Alexa and I decided that our sizing range for future patterns will go to at least 5XL or 64” chest + ease. So many knitters have been enjoying Love Note, so we went back and extended our size range. Love Note now goes to 72.5″ chest.

My friend Nina, who’s the owner and dyer at Rainbow Heirloom, also made herself a Love Note, since modelling for us in Paris! She used a beautiful combination, holding a strand of undyed Kidsilk Cloud alongside a strand of ‘aussie sunshine’ – a bright intense yellow. The pale mohair tones the intensity of the yellow down, and adds an ethereal halo; so cool! I never tire of seeing all of the painterly combinations of mohair and sock yarn. I’ve been down the rabbit hole on Instagram (#lovenotesweater) many times.

So of course we had to get together and take some cheesy Love Note friend pics! 

Nina and I work together once a week or so, meeting at a coffee shop and either working alongside each other, or just doing a social catch up while knitting. We also take the opportunity to take some photos of yarn, new designs, and the latest off of our needles. As a self-employed creative, work can sometimes feel lonely, daunting, and focus can be difficult to find. Meeting up with a friend like Nina, and working in the same time at the same place can help me to focus. If you’re interested, I share more about my experiences with self-employment in this post.