I was given some lovely blue/green 4ply sock wool. More than enough for a pair of socks! 
Now years ago my mother made herself a cardigan that I inherited, and love wearing, but which is getting a bit old and I had long planned to make a replacement.
Now this wool seemed to be just the thing for this project but what about a pattern?
I searched my mother’s old pattern’s thoroughly but couldn’t find one for this cardigan.
I looked on line and found a Sirdar pattern that was similar in that it was 4ply and had raglan sleeves, which I love, but seem to be less common.
I discovered that this pattern was for sale in a shop in nearby Hythe. Now I have heard about this shop and how wonderful it is so I decided that it was time for a visit.
I suggested to my friend that we might go together and we chose a mutually convenient day.
The weather has not been too good lately so when we set off it was a bit overcast as you can see in the photographs.
The most fun way to get to Hythe from Southamton is to take the ferry.
Here is the view back to Southampton as we set out.
We chose to sit outside
and on the way we saw this rather ugly container ship
and people who were out sailing.
After about fifteen minutes we were approaching Hythe pier.
We then took the little train to travel along the pier.
Here you can see the entrance in Hythe.
We then turned and went into the town.
We found the shop – “Shirley Wools”
(A closer view of the window.)
and went inside.
As you can see they have a good selection of yarns, needles and other items
and a wonderful display of buttons and threads.
This is where they keep the books of patterns.
I bought this pattern and a ball of cotton yarn.
(I don’t really need any other yarn at present though it was all tempting!)
After this we went and had lunch in a nearby cafe. I had the all-day breakfast 
and my friend the sausage, egg, beans and chips.
I decided to finish up with a ‘Millionaire’s shortbread’ icecream 
(10p cheaper if you had it ‘to go’.) Delicious! all that fudge and shortbread pieces and chocolate chips.
We went for a wander. However by this time the weather had taken a turn for the worse and I didn’t dare risk taking photographs, as it began to rain, though I did take a quick one of this cottage 
and this lonely seagull.
(This is cropped, I could never have got this close!)
On the way back we sat inside the ferry and looked out at the rain.
I bought the cotton yarn because the dishcloth I made two and a half years ago.
was finally showing it’s age 
and might not last much longer.
So I made a new one with this cotton. 
It may not last as long as the original which was made with proper ‘dishcloth cotton’ but I fancied a pretty one.
The pattern is just rows of trebles (US-dcs) and as I wanted a pretty but not impractical border I decided to go to this book
and close this edging. 
I left off the last row as I wanted a robust outer edge.
Hope you enjoyed coming with me. Don’t expect the cardigan to appear very soon, as it is more for the summer, but I do hope to start it within the next year.
Rainbow Junkie 
What a lovely day on with a friend. The wool shop looks wonderful. So glad you found a pattern you liked. I have been wondering, mind wondering only, about making myself a 4 ply cardigan for summer. I haven’t made a dish cloth since I was a girl guide. Amazing how these things go around. Showing my age now! Have a great Bank Holiday weekend.
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4ply cardiagans take longer than double knitting ones for children but you do a lot of knitting. More than me I suspect. Maybe you should make something for yourself. And My home made dishcloth has lasted much better than shop ones.
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What a lovely expedition. I enjoyed reading this. I live in Kent, but quite a way from Hythe. It is pleasant to visit and I usually visit that shop and can’t resist eating in the lovely fish restaurant facing the sea.
I’ve started using 4ply more often and really prefer knitting it to thicker yarns. What pattern do you use, please, for the inner part of the dishcloth? (I have the same book on borders and can find the edge.) I’m changing over to hand made dishcloths
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As a point of information the Hythe I went to is just across the water from Southampton, not the much better known Hythe in Kent.
As to the dishcloth: I started with 30 chain and worked trebles into the fourth from the hook then all along which gave me a total of 28. (Though one chain less would have been a better match for the edge as it needs multiples of 4 plus 3.) I then worked rows of trebles: one stitch into each stitch of the row below till it was rounghly square – 14 rows. I worked round with dcs (two for each treble for the sides) and one extra in each corner. Then because I had one too many stitches on the sides for the border I was using , I missed one stitch in the middle of each side to get down to 27 on the first row. I am hoping the open pattern will let the dishcloth dry more quickly than the previous one.
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Lovely, I enjoyed coming with you very much😉
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Glad to hear that. 🙂
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That looks like a great day out. I guess you know about http://www.ravelry.com if looking for patterns. You have given me the urge to knit again – I’ve been on a crochet fest for some time now – must get those needles out again. I like the look of the Crochet Edgings book – but I have two already! xxx
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I think I started with the ravelry patterns but couldn’t find what I wanted. The crochet edgings book is good but a lot of the edgings are very fancy and would work best on a very plain central protion.
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Another great post!!! I loved the trip everything looks fairy tale pretty 🙂
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Not the container ship surely?! 🙂
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Fancy both Hythe High Sreets look the same! 🙂 What a lovely trip.
Thank you for explaining your dishcloth pattern.
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