Friendship of the Traveling Sweater

If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook, you know that we had a team photo shoot a couple weeks ago. We had received an amazing sweater in the mail a few days before.

A little backstory: At the TNNA Summer Show in June we gave one of our favorite sample knitters a few skeins of Dottie in Cardamom. We had some ideas, but weren’t certain what we wanted her to knit just yet. Then a few weeks ago, we came across Glacier Tunic by Joji Locatelli. Of course, Elke knit it beautifully. Let’s just admire the evenness of her stitches for just a moment…

It seems like such a simple pattern, but there are details in the shaping and textures, that together, make it so much more. As soon as I opened the package, I had to try it on!

I loved it! It was so comfortable, and even though I hadn’t seen myself in a mirror yet, everyone else told me how cute it was, so I felt cute, because I believe my friends. (For some of us, it takes a lot of practice to believe your friends when they tell you you’re cute. I had a moment within a moment realizing how far my self-esteem has grown).

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Charlie wearing Glacier Tunic

And then I said, “you’re next!” to Becca, and she tried it on. It looked so good on her, different because she has a different shape than me, and so cute!

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Becca wearing Glacier Tunic

And then Gabby, who is my favorite model. She’s so fun to take pictures with.

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Gabby wearing Glacier Tunic

Up next, Carmel, our lead dyer! She wears a smaller size than the rest of us, so we styled her with a belt and leggings. It’s remarkable how accessories change a garment!

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Carmel wearing Glacier Tunic

And last, but not least, Kalliope. She’d been on the road, so we made her try it on as soon as she got back Just look at that joy!

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Kalliope wearing Glacier Tunic.

See? It’s a magical sweater folks.

If you’re dyeing to cast on… you can find the pattern on Ravelry here. We knit our sweater in size XXL using Anzula Dottie in Cardamom.

See all our photos below!

And if you’re looking for Dottie, you can find it in these shops:

California

Babetta’s
Twisted Skein
Yarning For You

Colorado

Colorful Yarns

Illinois

Knit One Purl Two

Indiana

Knitting Off Broadway
Sheep Skeins
Village Yarn Co

Michigan

Knotted Needle

Missouri

Village Yarnery

New York

Knitting Store

Nevada

Sin City Knit Shop

Ohio

Around the Table Yarns
Yarn Shop

Oregon

Candy Skein

Virginia

Baa Baa Sheep
Dances With Wool

Washington

Blizzard Yarn and Fiber
Fiber Gallery
Serial Knitters

West Virginia

Blue Field Yarn Co.

Wyoming

Ewe Count

Pattern Spotlight: Rincon Cowl

Katara, a blend of 50% brown yak fiber and 50% superwash merino, is one of those yarns you'll fall in love with as soon as you get to work with it. It's soft, but sturdy; the yak lets you spit-join new balls, despite the superwash merino content.

I love the heathery look of the colors, dyed over the natural brown of the yak.

I first used natural brown Katara in a revisit of my Javelina Hat. I'd originally used yarn from Bijou Basin Ranch, which has since closed, for this textured, unisex beanie. I was thrilled when Anzula introduced Katara. I knew it'd be a great fit for the hat, and it was.

I've wanted to play with a bandana-cowl shape for awhile, finding it a nice compromise between a regular cowl and a shawl or shawlette. I asked if Anzula could provide yarn support, and mentioned that I'd love to do it in Katara--and they said yes!

Loving how well Katara shows texture stitches, I decided to do a mix of knit and purl Gansey patterns. There's enough going on to keep your attention, with distinct sections of stitch patterns, but at the same time, it's pretty straightforward. No fancy cabling, just plump knit and purl stitches. Voila! The Rincon Cowl was born!

The cowl makes a luxurious, gender neutral gift, if you're starting your holiday gift knitting!

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Find Stephannie on Ravelry as StephCat, sign up for her newsletter here or on her website, and check out her Ravelry group, Sunset Cat Designs.

You can find Katara in stock in these shops:

Amazing Threads, MN
Around the Table Yarns, OH
Crafts & Quilting, Etc., TX
Knit New Haven, CT
Knitting Room, NY
Knotty Lady Yarns, OR
Ross Farm Mercantile, PA
Starlight Knitting Society, OR
ThreadBear, NM
Wasatch & Wool, UT
Yarn & Beads, CA

Pattern Spotlight: Blackstar Cowl by Andi Smith

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I have to admit to being a huge FanGirl of Anzula yarns, and when I was designing for the book, I’d planned on creating this cowl in Dreamy, but fate had plans.

I’d found this obscure star cable that intrigued me, and was somewhat obsessed with designing something very graphic with it. I grabbed my yarns, caked, and swatched like a crazy person! I think this motif broke my record for number of swatches to make it perfect!

I was so happy with it though; sometimes, the yarn, the color, and the pattern just gel to create the perfect trifecta. This was one of those times.

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When you’re working with two colors, and a tricksy cable motif, having an uninterrupted field of purl bumps in the background can be hard to achieve. A stitch that was one color became a different color on the next round, and that differently colored purl bump became all- encompassing problem for me for longer than I care to admit!

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After much playing around, and experimentation, and frogging, fixing that issue on the round before solved was the solution, and I was crazy happy with the results.

I sat down to write the pattern, and that is when disaster struck! In my mad rush to knit-all-the-things, I’d inadvertently picked up a skein of Cricket for the cables, not Dreamy! What’s worse, is that I didn’t have another skein of Dreamy in the One Red Shoe colorway!

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I know the amazing ladies at Anzula would have sent one out to me right away, but I wanted to knit this cowl NOW! Waiting was NOT an option! Do you ever have a project like that? I know I do.

So, I broke my must use the same weight for the cables and background rules, and went with what I had.

I’m so glad I did! Using a DK for that red pop of deliciousness was such a great choice. I’m thrilled that my impatience paid off! I love how the star pops out majestically, how graphic and understated it is; how just a few cables makes such a big impact!

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If you want to knit Blackstar, you’ll find it in my new Color Cables book, (©Cooperative Press 2018), which also includes full color tutorials for all the techniques featured in the book.

Stay up to date on all things Andi:

ravelry - https://www.ravelry.com/designers/andi-smith