{Monday Moods at DIY Weddings} Hot Air Balloons

This high-flying inspiration board at Postcards & Pretties inspired me to search the web for more weddings with a hot air balloon motif. I love the vivid poppy red paired with soft blue in this board. Very striking!

Get sweet inspiration for a dessert table like this beauty featured on the Amy Atlas blog that sports a travel theme with hot air balloon decor and treats. This entire post is filled with gorgeous details you must see!

I’m swooning over these pretty-in-pink hot air balloon centerpieces featured at Love & Lavender! This celebration had the theme “the sky’s the limit” and was held on the hotel’s roof top. You’ll enjoy reading more about this lovely wedding here.

Need some wedding invitations with hot air flair? A simple search on Etsy yielded 125 options for you to peruse! The print-it-yourself suite from Green Cherry Factory shown above caught my eye immediately! I love the vintage vibe and the soft mint sky background. But there are many beautiful options to consider in a variety of styles and colors in the Etsy Gallery.

Searching for some ideas for a hot air balloon cake? Check out my Hot Air Balloon Wedding Cake board on Pinterest for inspiration!

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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