I am thrilled to show you my new design Leylak, knitted in the gorgeous hand dyed Walk Collection Merino DK in Flieder. The yarn was generously sponsored by Cathrin Walk who I met, through Isabel Kraemer, at Barcelona Knits last year. My plan was to work on the Ataraxia silhouette with its peplum and make the same silhouette without the peplum but with the wings. Instead of a collar I wanted to make a cowl and asked for one skein of Cathrin’s KidMohair Lace in the same colourway. I knitted Leylak using a 4 mm/US 6 needle with a 22 stitches and 30 rows in stockinette stitch gauge measuring 10 cm/4″ square. My husband took these photos of me wearing size S, a few minutes from our house, down by the Rødnessjøen in Ørje. The pattern will be graded from size XS to 5XL.

Named after the Turkish leylak, the lilac tree, is this flowery cabled a-line cardigan with sidewings. The delicate cables, by Norah Gaughan, reminiscent of the lilac blossoms adorn the fronts, the back and the sleeves. Leylak ends in reverse stockinette stitch in a deep round neckline with a double neck- and buttonband. The jacket is knitted in the divine hand dyed Walk Collection Merino DK yarn, in pieces and seamed for the ultimate fit. To crown Leylak, make the cowl to act as a collar in excess yarn held together with the stunning Kid Mohair Lace.

The cable itself is one found in Norah Gaughan’s inspiring Knitted Cable Sourcebook. It seemed so perfect with its delicate look, even though it is a very time consuming cable to work, with a few rows where you need to be aware of changes as cables end or begin abruptly. But I do believe the cabling to be rewarding in the end, I must say.

The cardigan is worked back and forth in separate pieces and seamed. The asymmetric lower body has extra width – sidewing – in each side that is bound off. Each front has 3 cm/1.25″ extra width at center front that is bound off at the same time as the wing, then joined with the buttonband at the end. Waist shaping is worked in the sides.

Here is a detail of the neck and the cowl. You can also see how perfect in colour and texture the vintage buttons are. I found the buttons online, first I searched in Oslo, before the Corona virus, then online in both Norwegian stores including Epla (a Norwegian version of Etsy), before I found some on Etsy from an Italian store – vintage buttons in plastic in the perfect colour even though they are a bit big. The shop is called Razzle Dazzle Corner with an owner from Bologna, Italy, and specialises in vintage haberdashery, clothing & accessories.

I am planning to launch the Leylak pattern on September 9th and to begin the test knitting in July, allowing extra time since it is far from a quick knit.