A Head Start

So I got a little head start on my Sweater a Month Challenge. A 13 day head start, to be exact. But I couldn’t help it! I was done with my holiday knitting, this yarn had been staring at me since October 27th. I’m not a very patient person to begin with! I couldn’t not start it.

Moss Stitch, Kinda

The Minimalist Cardigan, by Ruthie Nussbaum, is a hugely popular pattern on Ravelry. It was originally in the Fall 2007 issue of Interweave, and it is kind of hard to believe I’ve waited over 2 years to finally make this sweater happen.

Mods: Where do I start? The pattern calls for worsted weight, I used Knit Picks Gloss, fingering weight. When I saw this sweater the first time I thought it was a light weight little summer sweater, and I was kind of shocked to find out it wasn’t. And when I saw the Woodland Sage I knew I needed this sweater in this merino silk blended yarn.

The yarn gauged small, no surprise, but with the same size 7 needles the pattern called for it only sized about an inch off. I picked the 39 1/2 size. I wanted to knit a little more to make sure it wasn’t too loose, that it kept the integrity of the stitches, and it looks lovely. It’s a light weight sweater, right?

I hate lots of pieces so I cast on 191 for both sides and back. That single moss stitch would kill me so I modified it to a two stitch moss, with a K2P2 rib repeated for two rows then switched for two rows.

I’m so in love with the color of this sweater it is almost disgusting.

So Pretty!

Surprisingly I haven’t wanted to poke my own eyes out with these circular needles yet! I think because I’m loving how the stitch is looking, how the yarn is working, how the ribbing turned out, how the front panels are laying.

I’m like a love sick school girl for this sweater. If I keep up this knitting rate I’ll have it done before January even starts.

There is still time to get in on the Sweater a Month Challenge! Email me at allyson@thesweatshopoflove.com to get on the mailing list! The first official Sweater a Month Challenge post will be January 4th.

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