A Creative Craft Swap

Lesley and I have been friends for a long time.

She's featured on my blog before, talented artist that she is, when we visited her Peebles studio and when we made felt together at my house.  

We love Lesley's art and own several of her paintings.

When we gave our lounge a refresh recently, there was space in the alcove for some new art - and we knew exactly who to contact.  It was Lesley who suggested a craft swap - she'd paint me a picture and I'd knit her a jumper.  Deal!

Lesley took her inspiration from our 2021 holiday to Davaar Island on the Mull of Kintyre peninsula.

Not long after our decision to craft swap, Lesley presented us with this beautiful painting of the lighthouse on Davaar.

Here it is in situ in our newly painted lounge.  I love how she's picked out our zingy yellow.

Now it was time to keep my side of the bargain.

Lesley chose this lovely pattern for an Icelandic style sweater with a colour work yoke.  It's the Fern and Feather Sweater by Jennifer Steingass.

We looked through my yarn stash and Lesley chose some colours but they just didn't really work well together as you can see in my test swatch.

So I had a look at Ravelry, the comprehensive online resource available to knitters and crocheters where I could see how others had knitted their beautiful colour work sweaters.  

I was very smitten with these greeny-blue yokes.

Lesley loved these colours as much as I do so I bought a ball of this gorgeous Schoppel Gradient yarn which makes the colour changes for you.  There's a tongue-in-cheek warning on the label that knitting can be addictive.  I already know this!

Knitting the yoke was really fun, especially watching the colours change.

The body and sleeves, made in 100% wool Drops Alaska, flew off my needles in just a few weeks as the gently repetitive stocking stitch made great TV knitting.

The jumper was finished in time for Lesley's next visit to the North East and taking careful measurements prior to knitting ensured a good fit.

Cheers to the craft swap!

You can find more of Lesley's lovely art here : www.lesleyjohnsonart.com