I was ... "stuck" on figuring out how to turn the heel of my All the Flowers stranded sock. So, to distract myself, I decided that I would try to start another sweater to see if I would be able to break my two (2) sweater record. Plus, I wanted to use more of my stash yarn (yes, this was one of those: Can I kill two birds with one stone? ideas 😉😋). So, I looked through my stash as well as all the patterns that I wanted to try and there seemed to be a good fit between my inherited Berroco Pure Merino Cinnamon yarn and my purchased Kraemer's Natural Skeins Rosa yarn and Tröjan Barbros Stjärnor. I had 2 colours plus, it seemed that I had just enough yarn to make this stranded sweater.
I decided that Size C would be my best fit and using my Chiagoo 3.5mm needles, I casted on 4 rows of seed stitch for the collar then proceeded to follow the increase instructions before switching to my Chiagoo 4.0mm needles to proceed with the yoke. It amazingly took me 6 days to finish the yoke and do the short row thereafter. The pattern & corresponding chart was easy to understand and follow. Then, I was ready to split the body and sleeves, I decided that I needed to go up a size where I added 4 additional sts to the sleeves. It only took me 4 days to finish the body where I decided that I wanted to follow Chart 2 to "end" the body which took me another 3 days before binding off. This meant that I had finished using the rest of my Berroco Pure Merino yarn and most of my third skein (out of 4!) Kraemer's yarn. I was confident at this point that I would have enough yarn to finish the sleeves. Four (4) days later, I discovered that I had barely enough yarn for a 3/4 sleeved sweater which looked ... "odd" (to say - at best!).
In defeat, I realized that I needed to find another skein of Kraemer's Natual Skeins Rosa yarn. Unfortunately, I had purchased this yarn back in 2015(!) and the yarn shop where I had originally purchased it from had changed owners and I was doubtful that the new owner would purchase this for me (especially since I knew that the previous owner had it in her own stash that she was using to dye yarn!). So, on-line I went to see if I would be able to find a lone, rouge skein as I only needed one more skein. I had found someone on Ravelry who said she was willing to sell her skein that looked like mine but, alas, she was in the process of moving and all of her yarn was in storage. 😭 Fortunately for me, I was able to find the exact yarn directly from Kraemer's 🙌🎉🎊🥳 and promptly ordered it in hopes that it would come in soon so I could possibly beat my two (2) sweater quota for the year (although the shipping did say that it could come in after the new year - one can hope that Santa pulls through!😉).🤞🍀
I must've been exceptional this year as Santa did pull through and I got my yarn in a matter of days! 🙌🎉🎊🥳 Two (2) days later, I finished my sleeves. Since I had so much yarn leftover, it gave me a chance to reassess the bottom of my sweater. While I had put the chart at the bottom of my sweater, it simply wasn't long enough. However, neither was the rib long enough as well to hold it down (it kept flipping over! 😳😱😭🤦). So, to "fix" it, I decided to undo the bind off and add more ribbing. Two (2) days later, it was done. But ... I was unsure if I really like it. A call out to my crafty Moms, a crafty friend and my family for their opinion ensued. The outcome: It looks fine! Bind off! And so I did. Then, it went for a bath (since it was superwash yarn, I just threw it in my washing machine) and block and here it is:
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