One Last Sweater as a Final Goodbye!

Well, here it is everyone, my last newsletter/blog post. I’ve enjoyed every single one I’ve written over the years and I’ve learned from many of them. As you might imagine, this one is a bit emotional to write but let’s get to it….

For the third week in a row I’m focusing on a sweater. It may be a little redundant but I do love knitting a sweater and I’m hoping to impart that love to those of you who aren’t quite confident enough to start one yet. One of the things I’ve loved doing is taking a pattern and addressing the possible tricky parts so you can be successful with it. And remember, there’s always help at the shop!

The sweater I’ve chosen for today is one I’ve been eyeing for months, the Cloud Sweater designed by PetiteKnit. The My Sister Knits sample is made with Snefnug, one of our favorite yarns. It’s lightweight, works up quickly, and is made with a blend of 55% alpaca, 35% cotton, and 10% Merino which means it might not be quite as warm as using 100% wool which might be a good thing. And the  colors! Have you looked at our wall of Snefnug? Apologies to those of you who aren’t local.

The pattern calls for Snefnug to be held with Knitting for Olive Soft Silk Mohair. Yes, I did pick up some yarn for this lovely sweater and after looking at it closely have decided to just use Snefnug. For this project, I don’t want to hold two yarns together.

Colors from top center clockwise: 7310 Askegra, 7885 Morkegron, 7890 Fersken, 7313 Koksgra, 7357 Lys Rosa, 7340 Jeansbla, and 7920 Stovet Bordeaux (the color I chose for mine). The one in the middle is 7988 Lys Turkis. This is a small handful of our Snefnug colors!

The pattern uses German Short Rows for some shaping. For those of you new to this technique, this is my favorite video. I encourage you to use stitch markers to mark where you’ve made what most people are now calling the ‘double stitch’. PetiteKnits just says ‘turn’ which indicates you’re working a  short row. That’s just something you need to be aware of in the pattern; when she says ‘turn’ or ‘turning stitch’, think ‘double stitch’ to yourself. That’s what I’m going to do!

You cast on your stitches, then immediately break the yarn. Sounds wrong but it works! Just follow the directions and you’ll be fine. You’ll get some good practice with short rows and, again, use markers to keep you on track.

When you’re told to ‘let the stitches rest’, put them on a length of Barber cord or some waste yarn.

sleeve and hem edge detail

You’re going to need to be able to M1L and M1R and pick up and knit. I used to be so afraid of picking up and knitting. What if I didn’t do it right? What if it looked bad? You can always rip it out and do it over. And over. And over! That’s only if you need to. I have a favorite cardigan that was kind of tricky and could definitely use a do-over with those picked up stitches but I just hope that no one looks at it closely enough to notice.

The first instructions on page 4 are to pick up and knit with the short end of the yarn. I have never run across this before so went to her website and then ‘asked Mr. Google’ as my friend says. Here is a short, peaceful video that shows exactly what to do and it makes so much sense!

As I’m reading through the pattern, one thing that I’m going to do is highlight the instruction to turn and also, when it says to knit or purl until there are X amount of stitches left on the needle, I will probably place a marker there ahead of time just to make it easier.

shoulder and top of sleeve detail © PetiteKnit

One of the details I love about this sweater is the edges. We are to do some ribbing and then some stockinette to cause the edge to roll and it looks so good! The other detail is the garter stitch at the shoulder and around the top of the sleeves.

My parting wish for you is the encouragement to make this sweater! I haven’t made it yet (my swatch is drying) but I’ve carefully read through it and it looks pretty straightforward using the links I’ve given you for any tricky parts. Once you get the short rows done it will be a great social knitting project!

I’ll leave you with two quotes from Elizabeth Zimmermann: 

“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit, either.” 

“No two people knit alike, look alike, think alike; why should their projects be alike? Your sweater should be like your own favorite original recipes - like nobody else’s on earth. And a good thing too.”

Keep on knitting!