FO: Wisteria Sweater

Oh, hello! I've been on a real sweater kick lately. I think it's a kind of "make hay while the sun shines" sort of philosophy, except it's "Make warm sweaters while you can still bear to wear them".

While we've had a couple odd warm-ish days, and a few sunshiny days (which were bitterly cold) spring is indeed coming. A trip through the countryside north of here revealed a slight tingle of green to the trees, and a couple fields were growing something green but the TGV whips by them at 200 mph, so I couldn't tell you what. I've been having a tendency to travel to fairly arctic climates this past year, so winter sweaters have been a year-round wardrobe staple anyway.

I've been wanting to make the Wisteria Pullover from Twist Collective since it came out in 2008. When I fall for an unusual pattern, I usually wait a little while before casting on because it takes a little time for reality to hit me and for me to realize that whatever garment I choose might have not been the best choice. This is why one of my first sweaters was an enormous, fully cabled monster that flattered no one, but I'm saving it for when I'm in my late 70's and can only hope to get lost in a garment.

I had even bought yarn for this: a gorgeous dark purple Madeline Tosh called Oxblood. I hed even started swatching for this sweater with the Tosh, before my stash and I were so rudely separated by an ocean. The Tosh will have to find a new purpose now, as I had acquired some really gorgeous Mondegreen from the Verdant Gryphon and got to it.

This yarn was amazing. It's an unusual blend of 60% Blue Face Leicester wool, 20% silk, and 10% baby camel. The baby camel causes it to have a slightly fuzzy soft bloom, but the underlying silk gives it a sheen, and it overall creates a dense and beautiful drapey fabric, with really nice stitch definition. Oh, and the color. I'm always a fan of neutrals, but this a beautiful steely gray with purple undertones.

The pattern was well-written. The cabling took a little time, but the rest of the sweater was simple. The only mod I made was I added another 2 sets of waist shaping decreases. I made the 40" size, which is bigger than I normally make but I wanted a slightly roomier sweater, but I didn't want it took look sloppy, hence the extra decreases. The only other thing I would change if I made this again would be some short-rows at the bust. The sweater is the same shape front and back. Because it is roomy, it's not a bad fit, but even the flattest of pancakes would have better results fit-wise if it had some boob shaping.

Oh, my row gauge was off and I realized the sweater was getting to be tunic sized if I didn't cut it off (It's knit from the neck down) so I have 6 rows less cable pattern at the bottom edge. But I love the necklace of twining cables. It really makes the sweater unique.

Despite the fact that I was told "Hey, you'll be ready to go to the Ren Faire in that" while I was knitting it, I find it to be wearable. It's unusual, but in a graceful sort of way. This isn't a light weight sweater at all. It is cozy and warm and snuggly, and it held up so nicely through multiple wears so far.

I love it. New favorite.

FO: Sylvatica

Before I get into the rabbit hole of all the travel adventures, here's a sweater I made. LOOK.

Once upon a time, there was a really great online yarn store called Flocks of Yarn. Sadly, they went out of business. Happily, I am an opportunist. I bought up all the Fibre Company Road to China Light for a really steep discount.

If you get a chance to get your hands on some, please do. It's a blend of alpaca, silk, baby camel and cashmere. To die for. Obviously, not cheap.

I did bring this with me to France and decided to start an epic sweater with it. I choose the Sylvatica from Twist Collective, which I've been wanting ever since it came out. I love short-sleeved light sweaters. I generally have a couple of light sweaters like this in the wardrobe rotation. They are less casual than a t-shirt, and they look great paired with skirts...

....Or hiking boots and pants, if you happen to have been banging around in the mountains that day.

I loved the lace pattern in the front, but found it kind of silly to have one mirrored in the back, so I left that out.

I still need to find buttons for it. I'm thinking tiny pearly pink ones will do nicely.

I'm wearing a sports bra in these pictures, so normally I fill out the top portion a bit more. But, eh. That's traveling for you.

Yes, I love it. It's soft and drapey and I've worn it quite a bit already.

The only thing I might do differently is the arm scythe is a bit snug, but after a couple of wears it seems to have loosened up. It's infinitely wearable, and just a good all-round sweater to own.

I did have issues getting gauge, and knit this a few inches before realizing it was going to be enormous. I ripped back, did some math, and then cast-on for the smallest size. I also worked this in the round instead of flat.

While a sweater with fingering-weight yarn on #3 needles takes quite a while, I think the results are worth it.

The pictures were taken in the tiny mountain village of Chefchouen. All the buildings in the medieval medina are painted blue! It was a really beautiful place, and I'll have lots more about it later.

FO: Star-Crossed Hat

Oh, surprise, I made another hand spun hat. Giftmas will be easy and breezy affair for me this year. I hope.

This started out as two equally beautiful bits of fiber- a bump of baby camel and silk blend, plus some AVFKW club fiber of dyed Polworth.



The color was called "Rosemary".



I carded both of these together and ended up with 3 oz of soft, silky fiber. I pulled out the colors into sections so it would get muddy, but would have a more tweedy effect. I spun it up as a 2-ply worsted weight.





The blended color has really gentle shifts of purple and green. I loved it- it was soft and drapes nicely and it's very warm. I only ended up with 120 yards.

I choose the Star Crossed Slouchy beret as a pattern. I started running scarce on yardage, so I skipped six rows of the pattern before I ran out...this means I don't have a slouchy beret. I have a beanie.



Which is fine by me- I like the giant undulating cables and sometimes you have to just go with it until you run out. It's a pretty hat and I could always make another one when I feel like yardage won't be such an issue. I think it would be quite stunning in a blend that includes a little angora- something with a soft halo.



It seems like a ridiculously warm hat by summer standards. The thought crosses my mind on hot and muggy days that no one will ever need a hat this warm again in the history of the planet. However, the days are starting to grow noticeably shorter, and early mornings now call for an urgent scramble to find a long-abandoned and heavily wrinkled sweater from the depths of the wardrobe.