The girls aren’t the only ones claiming my time – their things are just finished more quickly! Here’s what’s on my needles for me right now.

This is my second No. 9 sweater, knit as a pullover this time with a different yarn and weight. (These are all Ravelry links.) The Berroco Blackstone Tweed Chunky was an impulsive buy, once upon a time, because I loved the colour so much. (It’s called Salt Water.) I *thought* I had a bunch of patterns specifically for the yarn and figured I was golden – nope, the patterns are for the other weight of Berroco Blackstone Tweed, which is an aran. This one is bulky. So, this pretty yarn sat in the stash, waiting for its moment.

This winter, the moment arrived. Sweater No. 9 calls for a bulky yarn, but not one like this. The pattern uses two yarns held together, a silk mohair and a fingering yarn. The result is just not as bulky as this bulky weight yarn. Gauge is on a 7mm needle, with 14 stitches and 10 rows to 10 cm. Gauge is of course highly personal – the needle size is less important than the stitch count, which ensures the result is the right size. On 6.5mm needles, my swatch was 12.5 stitches to 10cm and I liked the feel of the fabric. I knew the finished bust size I wanted so figured out how many stitches that would require in this gauge. I then followed the directions and stitch counts for the size that ended up with that many stitches in the bust.

For my first No. 9 sweater, in contrast, I was getting 16 stitches to 10cm on 5mm needles with the Kidsilk Haze Trio. I did the same calculation, then followed the directions and stitch counts for the size on the pattern that resulted in the right number of stitches across the bust. That resulted in a sweater that fit me perfectly in that yarn.

The big different between my chosen yarn and the specified combinations, even though the weight is close, is in the rolldown collar. This robust yarn just doesn’t fold over well. It’s really thick, so I’ll probably wear the collar up under my chin.

I’m stalled at the sleeves because I’m positive I must have a 40cm 6.5mm circular needle. I just can’t find it. (I mean, really, I have buckets of needles. How can I be missing one?) If I’d been near a knitting store, I probably would have just bought one by now, even if it meant ending up with two. Instead, since we don’t have a LYS anymore, I have to make a pilgrimage to a store and that hasn’t happened yet. It’s okay. This yarn is used to waiting.

I do like how the ribbing is more defined in this wool. I changed the stitch counts on the collar and hem to make them line up again, and continued the ribbing from the raglans down the sides, and I like both of those elements too. 🙂

Meanwhile…I bought a kit. I’ve knit the back so far and am really liking it. The pattern is Churchmouse Yarns’ Quintessential Cardigan and jewel-necked cardigans are one kind of sweater I wear over and over again. (I may even wear out the Kidsilk Haze Stripe Hebrides or the Lunenberg in Koigu KPPPM.) The yarn is Jody Long Alba, unknown to me before I indulged in this kit. It is kind of an amazing thing to knit with a yarn that isn’t discontinued yet. This colourway is Moss.

Here’s the product detail page at Knitting Fever – it comes in a lot of colours!

That makes sense as Alba is quite similar in feel to Rowan Felted Tweed, which also comes in a lot of colours. The composition is the same, too. Both yarns are 50% merino wool, 25% alpaca and 25% rayon/viscose. Alba isn’t as soft as Felted Tweed, though, which might be a good thing in some ways. It’s hard to sew seams with Felted Tweed because it breaks all the time, but Alba would be fine. Hmm. I wonder why. Is it the “felting”, however that’s done, or is the Alba made of fibre with a longer staple? I don’t know. The put-up is much larger: Alba comes in 100g balls of 350m while Felted Tweed comes in 50g balls of 175m.

Here’s the back of the new sweater.

I love all the flicky colour bits of the tweed!

We were talking a few weeks ago about cropped sweaters and I discovered in the knitting of this one that it was intended to be cropped. (Feh.) I first knit a 12″ side seam as specified in the pattern, thinking that would result in a high hip length which I like, but the armscye is shorter on this pattern and the sweater hem ended up just below my waist. I ripped it back and added two inches into the length before binding off stitches for the armholes.

I actually bought two of these kits, the other in a heathered plum called Kilt, and may knit that one another inch longer than this. I’ll see whether I run out of yarn on this one first.

I did knit a sweater in Felted Tweed a few years ago and here it is again. I did like the feel of it while I was knitting and this pattern was a bit addictive. This sweater has some miles on it, if not a lot of wear. My mom admired it and I gave it to her, then she didn’t wear it (she didn’t like the pink) and she gave it back to me. I don’t wear these colours so much now that my hair is grey, so it’s waiting on a day in the sun.

The pattern is Bute by Lisa Richardson, which was shown in two colourways by Rowan. That’s the link to the version I knit on Ravelry, and here’s the link to the blue variation. The blue version is shown as a man’s sweater, but actually the pattern is unisex. Hmm. Yes, it had suede elbow patches, which I left off. I also recall that I had to take in the shoulders for a better fit. The mister liked the blue one, so I stashed all the yarns. There’s another project I should get on the needles to free that yarn from the stash. So much string, so little time!