Knitting Three Sweaters

At the beginning of 2021 I decided I would make this a sweater knitting year. Right now I have three sweaters on the needles, after having a few “fail” moments to narrow down the patterns.

All three sweaters are pullovers and two have colorwork yokes.

Sweater #1: The Hand-spun Yarn Sweater

Because I really wanted to knit a colorwork yoke with wool, I chose the Meadow Moon pullover pattern by Jennifer Steingass. It is knit top-down with stranded colorwork at the yoke and cuffs.

I’m using dark blue Rauma Finull yarn as the main color along with a hand-spun yarn, purchased from Wound Up Fiber Arts, for the colorwork. The hand-spun yarn is variegated in brown, tan, blue and maroon colors.

I have finished the yoke and separated for the sleeves with lots of stockinette to come. *Update: As of November, I have finished the other two sweaters (see photos below) but this one I am still slogging along with the round and round knitting. It’s great for long car rides or tv watching, but will take me a while to finish.

Sweater #2: The Double Yarn Sweater

I’ve had a huge skein of light green yarn sitting around driving me nuts because I didn’t know what to do with it. The Miss Babs yarn was an impulse buy, or maybe it was on sale, who can remember? But it’s a pretty light green and I wanted to combine it with mohair.

After knitting a swatch combining it with dark green mohair, I moved on to try a very light green mohair and loved it. So, although I wanted to knit something to use up the Miss Babs yarn, I now have a bunch of dark green mohair sitting around that needs to be combined with something…! Can’t seem to overcome the yarn stash blues.

I chose the free pattern called Calliope by Espace Tricot. The pattern is simple, with raglan shaping and it’s a top-down sweater.

*UPDATE: Finished after three months and the sweater is quite large. I think it’s the washable yarn. The fabric is very soft and comfy, but the body is very wide and I have to roll up the sleeves!

Sweater #3: Heading Into New Territory

Last but certainly not least, I am knitting an Icelandic sweater using Lettlopi wool. I saw someone on Instagram knitting with this yarn and thought it looked interesting. I found it for sale in Iceland and bought the skeins needed to knit Farfuglar from the Lopi 40 book. The name means “Migrating Birds”. My colors are opposite from the pattern shown, but using the same colors – air blue and white.

I’ve never used Lettlopi yarn, but I have fallen in love. This pattern book is awesome, but not really for the inexperienced sweater knitter. Instructions are basic. I think I will manage, but I’ve already learned a new rib stitch and decrease called KRPR, which is a right-slanting decrease. I had to look that one up.

This is a bottom up sweater, which is not my favorite, but I look forward to getting to the pretty yoke pattern.

UPDATE: Finished Farfuglar (link to my Ravelry page with notes) the end of October – a one month knit. This was my favorite project of the three sweaters so I worked on it the most! All I would change is the body ribbing at the bottom which tends to curl up. Maybe make it longer, or knit a bit differently. It fits me perfectly!

Yoke close up bird pattern Farfuglar sweater

Last Words

These three sweater patterns are easy enough that I can switch off between them as I feel like. The Meadow Moon yoke is done for now so I’ll be knitting straight stockinette for a while until I get to the sleeve cuffs where new colorwork is needed.

Calliope knitting is also simple with a long rib being knit at the bottom of the sleeve. I will have one more sleeve to go.

Farfuglar (which means Migrating Birds) has a lot of stockinette to accomplish before I begin the other sleeve and then get to the fun yoke pattern.

I’ve never knit more than one sweater at a time, and I’m not a super experienced sweater knitter, but this is fun. I will not get bored and I like having the choice when it comes time to knit.

Now, which one will I finish first? Answer – Farfuglar! Can’t wait to knit more projects with Lettlopi wool.

knitting three sweaters — Three Sweaters – October 2021

New Knitting Project: Color-work Pullover Pattern

My next big knitting project for 2021 will be a colorwork, or Fair Isle, pullover sweater. I’ve been searching the internet and Ravelry for some ideas and now it’s time to narrow down the selections. It’s taken me months to write this post, and it’s already September, so I’ve already begun two sweaters (see below), and plan to make a third.

Hooked on Colorwork, Fair Isle Knitting

After knitting for a few years, I have decided that I really like colorwork knitting. Now that I have a couple of hats (Katie’s Kep), mittens, and fingerless mitts (Stellar Parallax) under my belt, I feel that a sweater is what I need to knit next. Once a year I need to make myself a sweater. This will really be sweater number two, after the Cobblestone, but the Cobblestone was not colorwork.

Fingerless mitts Stellar Parallax pattern — Stellar Parallax

Fair Isle Mitts colorwork pattern — Stellar Parallax

A Word About Steeking

A colorwork, or Fair Isle, sweater must be a pullover because a cardigan requires steeking. Once the sweater is knit, it is cut up the front to create the cardigan. Yikes, I am not ready for that yet.

Three Patterns For the Price of Two – Jennifer Steingass

Jennifer Steingass is a knitwear designer who offers lots of colorwork pullover patterns to knit. Also, she is currently (at the time I wrote this) selling her patterns at three for the price of two, or buy 2 get 1 free.

Because I have some Istex Lettlopi yarn on the way to my house from Iceland (that is so cool – LOL), I chose the following patterns to purchase. I’ve decided to knit with aran, or worsted, weight yarn for my next sweater. The links below go to Ravelry.

Telja – Lettlopi (aran / worsted)
Treelight – Lettlopi
Goldwing – worsted
Meadow Moon – Fingering, I am knitting this one – see photo below
Newleaf – Fingering

But beware… or be aware… not all of her color-work patterns are Fair Isle (using only 2 colors at one time), as some of them require three colors to be carried along one row of knitting. Of course, I can stay with two colors if I want and ignore adding a third. I find that trying to work with more than two colors can be annoying. I ran into that while knitting a few of the rows for the “Marshland” sweater.

Knitting Sweaters: On the Needles

Right now I am knitting two sweaters while I wait for my Lettlopi yarn to arrive. Below is my green Calliope and colorwork Meadow Moon.

Calliope sleeve knitting — Calliope – Free pattern

knitting colorwork yoke of Meadow Moon pullover — Calliope – Free pattern

Marie Wallin’s Fair Isle Patterns

One of the first sweater patterns I saw at Ravelry was Marie Wallin’s Lovage. It is part of her Windswept Collection but the pattern can be purchased separately at Ravelry for approximately $8.87 US (at current writing). I’ve looked through the comments from knitters of this sweater and some people have had trouble. There is a lot of stranded knitting at the entire top and part of the sleeves. Then there is some braided work down the rest of the sleeve. It’s very pretty, but might be too difficult for me.

She also has a Meadow Collection and I love the Nigella Fair Isle pullover pattern, but wow, what a big project. It’s worth checking out her Free Patterns section too.

Sweaters Knit by Me

At the beginning of the year (2021)I knit the Cobblestone Cardigan and took it up to New Hampshire with me. I wore that sweater nearly every day! It’s big and soft and cozy. I won’t get the chance to wear it, or any sweater, until I can travel north.

Each time I knit a sweater, I learn a bit more. From the type of yarn, style, pattern writing, fit and mistakes to how much I like, or dislike, the end product. I’ve only knit five sweaters, one is a child’s size, two are pullovers and three are cardigans. I like cardigans best for wearing, although living in Florida means I seldom get to wear any type of sweater.

Each time I knit a sweater, or other item, I find more yarn I love. I keep it in mind for any upcoming projects. Each image below has a link at the bottom.

Cobblestone Cardigan knit in Brooklyn Tweed yarn — Marshland

I’ve learned that I like knitting with wool and don’t like washable yarn. I’ve discovered what “pooling” is – see the Umpqua sweater, which I really dislike for many reasons, but it was my very first sweater! I knew literally nothing about sweater knitting. I will probably frog it at some point to re-use the yarn.

Sock yarn should be used for socks, IMO because when I want a sweater, I want it to be warm and cozy. Wool and natural fibers, tend to be cheaper also. I like that I know where the sheep / animals lived who provided it!

I Want to Travel to Cooler Locations!

I’d love to leave the state of Florida more often. I dislike living here, and there is so much of the US I have not seen.

After being unable to travel due to the Covid restrictions, which seem to drag on and on, I have decided I will not count on airplane travel any longer. Wearing a mask through the airport, on the plane and through a second airport, was very uncomfortable. I understand the concern, but the restrictions kept me from seeing two of my kids for over two years. This is unacceptable.

We will be buying an RV of some kind to make travel easier. I have cats and they will need to come along. But the most exciting thing is that we will be able to visit cooler locations. Then, I can wear my sweaters, hats, cowls, and mitts! I long for this.

Knitting The Stellar Parallax Mitts by Bunnymuff

After knitting stockinette for days on my Calliope sweater, I felt that I needed a color-work challenge. Mona Zillah aka Bunnymuff has a pretty pattern done in Fair Isle, stranded knitting. The pattern is called Stellar Parallax and you get two patterns for the price of one as it includes directions for a hat and mitts. I’m knitting the fingerless mitts first.

The Wool Yarn

I am knitting with wool yarn which I have in my stash and it includes Rauma (orange and yellow), Tukuwool (green), and Jamieson & Smith 2-ply (blue) and J&S Shetland Supreme (black- dark brown – and white-undyed). The only problem I had was with the dark brown yarn which would occasionally become very thin in places as I knit. All the other colors were very consistent.

A New Way to Knit Corrugated Rib

I was unsure of what needle size to use. My first cuff was knit with a size 3US which is bigger than the pattern suggest. It turned out to be too large around so I began again with a size 2US .

Size 2 US used for all of knitting (9-inch circular needle) except for top of hand and thumb ribbing when I used size 1.5 DPNs.

First, I did the cast-on and ribbing as I usually do corrugated rib. And it looked like this (photo left below). The cuff was too large, so I began again with a smaller needle and followed Mona’s directions (photo right).

One Mitt is Finished

On September 4th I finished my first mitt. All that’s left is the weaving in of ends, which will be a big job. I took some photos while knitting the ribbing at the top of the hand with the thumb stitches on hold.

The whole mitt was knit with size 2 needles until the ribbing. I used size 1.5 to finish off the ribbing on the hand, and then I used the 1.5 for the thumb. I don’t like the Hiya Hiya set of three needles, so I bought some wooden DPNs to use for the second mitt – they are Lykke brand and are beautiful.

Ending Notes on Knitting the Stellar Parallax Mitts Pattern

I enjoyed knitting this pattern by Bunnymuff (link goes to her Ravelry store). She has a lot of colorwork patterns that I love, but she also creates patterns that require steeking – which I’ve never done. Steeking, in case you don’t know, is required when knitting colorwork sweaters that will become cardigans. Because Fair Isle knitting is done in the round, the sweater opening has to be created afterward. It all seems quite scary to me because you must cut up through your knitting! Yikes… I plan to learn it one day, but I’ll have to be in the mood. So I’m sticking with more simple colorwork projects for now.

black cat, knitting basket, fontana — Fontana checks out the knitting basket

As I’ve said, I really liked knitting this pattern and it didn’t take long to finish the knitting. The weaving of ends is another story! I tried to carry the yarn colors more on the second mitt, to keep ends at a minimum, but it didn’t help much. It also didn’t help that Fontana, my cat, would insist on jumping into my lap while I tried to keep all my balls of yarn organized….!! How do cats always know to bother us when we are the busiest? Oh well, in the end, it’s all worth it.

Buying the new set of DPNs, Lykke brand (this is an affiliate link to Amazon), size 1.5 US, made a huge difference when completing the top ribbing for the hand and thumb.

weaving in ends on Stellar mitts — New Lykke DPNs

Lykke driftwood double-pointed needles — New Lykke DPNs

I have yet to wash the mitts because I am still weaving in ends! It’s never-ending, but I love the look of the mitts, which fit perfectly. I’m happy with my color choices and I learned a new way to knit corrugated ribbing. I’ll have to begin the hat part of this pattern soon before I forget where I put all my matching yarn.

Fair Isle Warm Ears Wool Hat Knitting

This is my third time knitting the Triple Patterned Watchcap hat pattern from the “Hat’s On” book (link to book below). This Fair Isle hat has a brim which is knit in such a way that it will be doubled and therefore keeps the ears nice and warm.

me wearing the watchcap hat — My new hat

The pattern begins with a Latvian Braid which is called a Twined Herringbone Edge in the pattern. For some reason I always have to review notes on how to create the braid and usually I begin doing it incorrectly! But once I realize my mistake, I can do the braid without a problem.

The braid will be at the top part of the cuff once it’s flipped up. This pattern is in chart form only, and you have to own the book to get the pattern. Hat’s On! is available at Amazon here. (This is an affiliate link and I could earn money if you follow the link and buy the book.) It contains patterns from simple / beginner to difficult / experienced and I’ve had my book for years trying to work up to knitting that pretty hat on the front!

Knitting the Cuff or Hat Band – Colorwork Pattern #1

I like to place markers to help me keep the pattern straight. On the cuff that means every ten stitches.

hat, knitting, triple-patterned watchcap, hats on book, — Using markers for pattern

Once the first pattern of the triple-patterned hat is complete the remainder of the knitting is done with the cuff turned inside out. My needles are very crowded while knitting the XL size.

In the photo below, I have flipped the finished brim inside out and begun knitting in the opposite direction for the top of the hat. The remainder of the hat will be knit this way, so the cuff looks inside out. It will turn up when the hat is completed.

hat knitting, triple-patterned watchcap, colorwork, fair isle, — Brim is finished, turned to begin hat top

Knitting Pattern #2 of the Triple Pattern Design

I am following this pattern exactly and the second colorwork pattern is a bunch of circles. It’s for fun only because when the hat is complete the cuff will be turned up to cover this section of knitting. But, Fair Isle is much more fun to knit than simple stockinette. This section could actually contain anything, or nothing at all. When I knit this hat in green and gold, I put a heart pattern in this second section.

I will say that this knit made my hands ache. I did knit at long periods of time, but the wool is quite stiff to work with. The last two hats I made like this were knit with Brooklyn Tweed’s Arbor yarn, which I would have used again, but had no more good colors left. This hat will have a different look because of the yarn, but that’s okay because I also love this type of wool.

Colorwork pattern #2 will be covered by the cuff when the hat is finished.

Pattern #3 Completes the Crown of the Hat

As I began pattern number three, I was running low on the brown yarn. I was sure the red would be sufficient, but the brown ball was pretty small. I had used the Teak yarn to knit a pair of boot cuffs for my daughter, so I didn’t begin this knit with a full skein. I do have another brown yarn – BT’s Meteorite – which I am keeping close by, just in case.

It turned out that I had just barely enough brown yarn to finish up the crown – see my image below, far right…! One little strand was leftover. It’s what knitter’s call playing “yarn chicken”.

balls of wool yarn — Harrisville Highland Wool, Teak and Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, Amaranth

Triple Patterned Watchcap knit in brown and red wool crown of hat — Harrisville Highland Wool, Teak and Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, Amaranth

The Wool Yarn

In keeping with my plan to use up the yarn I already have, I found two worsted weight, pure wool yarns that I like together. The yarn I am using for this hat project is Brooklyn Tweed’s “Shelter” in colorway Amaranth (shades of red) and Harrisville Highland Wool in colorway Teak (brown). Wool is wonderful for colorwork and will help to make this hat extra warm on cold days.

The Size and Needles Used

I am using a size 6 needle (16 inch circular and DPN’s) and knitting the size XL hat. Both hats I knit previously came out with head circumference measurements exactly matching the pattern. Because this hat is done in stranded knitting around the brim, it won’t have a lot of stretch. The XL should measure 22 inches when finished and that should fit my head nicely. Yes, it does!

The finished hat, after washing and drying, measures approximately 22 inches around. There isn’t much stretch to this pattern and it fits snug, but not tight to my head. I rinsed it twice in wool wash as there was a lot of color coming out. Yarn tends to be pretty dirty by the time a project is knit, so washing is essential.

I Now Have Three Triple-Patterned Watchcaps in Three Sizes

Two hats, the size Large and Small, were knit using Brooklyn Tweed’s “Arbor” which is a very nice yarn. I enjoyed knitting with it more than the wool, but I love the outcome of this wool hat.