Rivulets

An meine deutschen LeserInnen: Das Muster ist leider ausnahmsweise nur auf Englisch erhältlich. Das nächste Muster gibt es wieder zweisprachig, versprochen.

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Finally I can tell you about this awesome sweater! It´s been over a year that Brandie Brunner (check her out on Ravelry: beepb), my friend and tech editor, and I started working on this design together. It was the first project where Brandie was taking part in the design process. And what can I say, she did not start slowly! She came up with this incredibly beautiful stitch pattern. It´s hard to say if it´s ribbing or lace, it´s a mix of both. The combination of knit and purl stitches means that there´s no curling, which is super awesome. And the eyelets create a stunning night-sky effect, it looks as if the eyelets were stars or distant galaxies. It´s almost poetic.

The most wonderful part about the stitch pattern is its overall look, there seem to be streams and streams of water running together. It paints a mesmerizing pattern, just like raindrops that land on a pane of glass. I really believe that Brandie is a natural knitting genius for coming up with it.

 

All I had to do was to find some numbers that would make it a sweater pattern. We decided to go for top-down knitting, it´s just ever so helpful that you can try your sweater on as you go to make sure that it fits. This time, taking into account the intricate stitch pattern, I just wrote down one size. You´ll easily be able to eek out five sizes, ranging from a 35.5 to 41.25 inch bust when choosing the weight of your yarn, i.e. you´ll choose any weight between fingering and aran.

Brandie and I discussed every detail of the sweater, e-mails were sent to and fro accross the ocean. It was a lot of fun. I am so used to working on my own that I almost forgot how inspiring and rewarding a cooperation like that can be.

Also, this stitch pattern has a great elasticity, you would never have guessed that the sweater to the left is modeled on a 39 in bust while the same sweater is shown to the left on a 34.5 inch bust. It´s almost impossible to knit up the wrong size with this sweater.

 

Here´s another, and even more perplexing example of this: This sample, knit by Brandie with Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima, is modeled on a curvy 36 inch bust on the left, on a flat 36 inch bust in the middle and on a 45 inch bust on the right. It´s just fascinating how this works, isn´t it?

The first sample was knit with Golf from Lang Yarns, which consists of 100% mercerized cotton. So this shows how the fibre content also changes the look of the sweater. I have a hard time desiding which sample I like more, the cotton prototype or the one with the actual yarn we used for the pattern, Knit Picks Palette, 100% Peruvian highland wool, which is lighter and fluffier than the cotton. I enjoyed working with that yarn a lot, and the colour just about perfectly matches the image I had in my head. Brandie and I are very grateful that our sweater is part of KnitPicks´ outstanding Independent Designer Partnership Program. They have great patterns on their website, if you are not familiar with it, you really should check it out! Plus, they do have a large variety of yarns, you´ll find the right one for any size of the sweater in their collection, which is awesome in and of itself. The KnitPicks photographer was so taken by our Rivulets sweater that she took some pictures, even though it wasn´t planned. You can imagine that we are proud. And the model is gorgeous.

There´s another detail about the construction of this sweater that I´d like to mention: Coming up with a seamless way to knit this very intricate pattern was a bit of a challenge. We had to find a way to let the stitch pattern at the shoulder seams naturally flow into the stitch pattern of the sleeves. We resolved this by working saddle shoulders. The two pattern repeats of the saddles function as a baseline for the sleeve increases – it really does help the knitting develope organically as you go.

The pattern comes in written and charted format, so that you can choose which ever directions suit you best. As usual, you can find it on Ravelry as well. Enjoy!

 

kolk

Es gibt von mir einen neuen Pullover. Es ist ein schlichtes Design, das mit sechser Nadeln gestrickt wird. Die Wolle habe ich von meiner Strickkollegin, Lektorin und Freundin Brandie geschenkt bekommen. Mir war fast sofort klar, was daraus werden sollte. Auf jeden Fall musste es etwas mit viel glatt rechts Gestricktem und ohne schwere, plastische Details wie Zöpfe sein. Dann kam mir der Gedanke mit den Ziernähten aus abgehobenen Maschen. So einfach wird aus glatt rechts und immer geradeaus ein wunderschöner Pulli!

Außerdem wollte ich, dass der Pulli feminin wirkt. Deswegen habe ich die Kanten von Kragen, Ärmeln und “Body” mit Lacewolle in grüner Kontrastfarbe aufgehübscht. Sofort ist der Pulli viel zierlicher.

Gestrickt wird in Runden von oben nach unten, frei nach der “Contiguous-Sleeve”-Methode von Susie Myers.

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I have a new sweater pattern to share! It´s a simple design, knit in an aran weight yarn (at least that is what Ravelry says – I knit it up to a chunky gauge though). I got this yarn from my knitting comrade and amazing friend Brandie and I almost instantly knew what the sweater would look like. I wanted something simple, with clear lines and without plastic details, like cables or texture. Aran/chunky tweed really needs plain stocking stitch to shine.

For a little extra I simply added vertical decorative seams running down the body and the top of the sleeves.  I also wanted a feminine look. And what can be more lady-like than some soft and filigrane details at the edges: I worked a few rounds in stocking stitch with a contrast lace weight yarn – and: voilà! Enter a touch of elegance.

The sweater is worked in the contiguous-sleeve-method by Susie Myer, i.e. it is worked seamlessly in rounds from the top down.

Die Wolle, Heritage von Briggs&Little, läßt sich wunderbar verstricken. Sie fühlt sich auf der Haut weich und kein Stück kratzig an, obwohl sie aus reiner Schurwolle besteht. Warum die Farbe allerdings “grey heather”, also grau meliert, genannt wurde, ist mir ein Rätsel. Die Bilder sind farbecht.

The yarn, Heritage from Briggs&Little is super amazing to work with. It´s soft and very lovely to wear on the skin, even though it´s one hundred percent pure wool. The naming of the colour escapes me though.Why would anyone think that this looks like “grey heater”? I swear the colours in the pictures are as true as it gets.

Der Pulli hat, je nach gestrickter Größe, eine unterschiedliche Passform. Das habe ich aus Rückmeldungen von Strickerinnen, die frühere Designs von mir testgestrickt haben, so entwickelt. Insgesamt gibt es zwölf Größen. In den kleinen Größen (Gr. 32-38) ist die Taillierung ausgeprägt, in den mittleren Größen (Gr. 40-46) ist sie moderat gehalten und in den großen Größen (Gr. 48-54) hat der Pulli eine leichte A-Form. Ich sammle zum Thema Passform noch Feedback. Ganz sicher gibt es keine perfekte Lösung für alle. Auf jeden Fall stehen in dem Muster jetzt drei Auswahlmöglichkeiten zur Verfügung.

Das Muster enthält eine Schemazeichnung, sodass es sehr einfach ist, die Pullimaße der einzelnen Größen mit den gewünschten Maßen abzugleichen. Ob man dabei genau passend stricken mag oder lieber ein wenig Luft hat, ist natürlich von den Vorstellungen der jeweiligen Strickerin abhängig. Entworfen wurde der Pulli so, dass er ohne Bequemlichkeitszugabe passt. Aber auch mit etwas Spiel sitzt er  sehr gut, wie meine Schwester demonstriert.

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The sweater also has a special approach to sizing. Due to the feedback of knitters in test knits for other sweaters I designed I have shaped the body a little differently every four sizes. (The sweater comes in twelve sizes.) The four “smallest” sizes (sizes 32-38) have the most intense waist shaping, the four “medium” sizes (sizes 40-46) have moderate waist shaping and the four “largest” sizes (sizes 48-54) are worked in a mild A-line. I am still collecting feedback from knitters on this. Maybe there is no perfect approach to flatter all body types in one pattern. I guess most knitters will customize the body of the sweater anyway. At least in this pattern there are three options to pick from.

As always there is a schematic so that it will be easy for you to choose the size you would like to knit according to the measurements. Ease, of course, is a personal choice. My model, who is also my beautiful sister, is showing the sweater off with four inches of positive ease. The sizes are designed to fit with no ease. So go up a size or two for a funkier look.

Den Pullover habe ich nach dieser kleinen Straße in Lübeck benannt. Mir gefällt der Klang.  Er ist kantig und schlicht, wie der Pullover auch.

I named the sweater after a tiny street in Luebeck, Germany. I like the sound of it. It´s sharp and edgy – just like my new sweater.

Das Gebäude an der Ecke ist das Figurentheater.

The building at the corner is the puppet theatre.

Und das ist Kolk, die Straße, vom oberen Ende aus gesehen. Es ist eine kurze Straße.

And that´s Kolk, the street, as seen from the upper end. It´s tiny short street. There are only three houses on the left side and a wall on the right side.

Oh, und das hätt ich fast vergessen: Das Muster bekommt ihr hier (Link zur Ravelry-Musterseite).

Oops, I almost forgot: You can get your copy of the pattern here (Ravelry pattern page).