Golden Sweater--Third Time's a Charm!

Whew!  I finally have a sweater out of the Rowan Purelife Organic Wool I bought over two years ago!  I found 10 skeins on sale at Yarndogs in Los Gatos, in a pretty camel color--Alder Buckthorn, and I bought it with a pattern in mind.   This is the third attempt at making a sweater out of this yarn.  Nothing wrong with the yarn (a little separation of the strands but I still like it!), everything wrong with ME!

Concur by Berroco

My first attempt was this cute cardi, Concur by Berroco.  I even had some big vintage turquoise buttons which looked awesome with the camel yarn.  I was using a gold Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend for the cuffs and bottom hem.  I ran into trouble during the picking-up-stitches stage....I was an inexperienced knitter and did it incorrectly.  Too many stitches picked up.  Then I got lost at the button band.  So I put it away in a bag and found it again last year.

I frogged the whole thing and used most of the gold Manos for a crocheted version of the Just Enough Ruffles scarf, which turned out beautifully if I do say so myself.

I started making Irish Coffee by Thea Colman.  SO CUTE!  But, I got only so far into it, and realized my gauge wasn't right.   And, I wasn't loving the Purelife with this pattern.  (The pattern, by the way, is fabulous!)  So I'll choose a better yarn in the future--perhaps some MadTosh.  I frogged the Purelife again.







So here we are, two years later (at least), from the original purchase date.  I learned a new crochet stitch at the beginning of the summer and I love it!  It's a crossed half double crochet, and you cross it by making a second stitch around the post of the previous stitch of the same row.  Super cool!  I tried a swatch with the Purelife and it was gorgeous.

Crossed half-double crochet alternating with a row of single crochet (US)

So I made up my own pattern, using a basic drop-shoulder construction.  I did taper the sleeves, and I added that same gold Manos for some trim.  I love the result!   It's really soft and squishy, and I just love the color.  You may not see me in the sweater anytime soon, it's a little tight.  Sad, sad, sad.  It looks great on my sister-in-law, though!  We made a deal that if I didn't wear it by Christmas, it would be hers.  Read: if I don't start losing some weight, it's hers.  There's motivation for you!

Neckline detail (right) and hem detail (left)