
Cloudesley
My knitting pal saw an email from a LYS that featured the Cloudesley sweater from Isabell Kraemer….and I loved it immediately. I’ve had several of Kraemer’s patterns in my Ravelry favorites for quite some time but…. I just don’t enjoy knitting sweaters. Or so I thought.
I really enjoyed this knit!! Amazing, right! Let me explain….
The Yarn
The great thing about finding a pattern through your LYS is that they usually have great yarn ideas. Since the yarn that Kraemer used is a bit hard to find, I knew I would need something else. The Sated Sheep in Dripping Springs, Texas had many yarn suggestions for this sweater – and discounted COVID shipping!
After looking at several yarns, I settled on Milky Way from Anzula. It’s got an interesting fiber content: Casein, made from milk. After reading reviews of the yarn – and great things about the drape of it – I decided to purchase some. Getting gauge was a bit difficult and I kind of wish I’d knit with a different sized needle, but it all worked out.
The Pattern
I’ve never really used a cable needle, except when I first learned how to knit cables. But I don’t really like the look of cables, so I don’t knit them. But I had to use a cable needle with this pattern to get that beautiful slipped stitch design on the back. After several rows – or inches – or knitting, I finally got the hang of it, and ended up enjoying it!
Kraemer uses such an interesting construction for the sleeves and shoulders – it’s seamless and super easy. The pattern was a bit confusing to read at times and I even had to pose a question to the support group on Ravelry…. But otherwise, it was fun to knit!
Details
Pattern: Cloudesley by Isabell Kraemer
Yarn: Anuzla Milky Way
Colorways: Teal
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm)
Size: 3
Made for: me
Time to Completion: 3.1 months
I never devoted my full attention to this sweater so it took a bit longer to knit. I usually tried to do two rows, at least, a day. I added some stitches near the end to get a bit of an A-line. And I did not add stitches on to the neckband as it was high enough for me already. I prefer shorter sleeves so I didn’t knit as much on those, either.
In the end, I learned my lesson on alternating skeins. I must alternate skeins. Ha! No matter how similar the skeins look, they are always different once knitted up. Though I knit to the specified length it is not long enough for me. So, another lesson: try on the project as you go! I did – but obviously not enough. This problem is easily solved by wearing a tank underneath but I need to be more careful next time.
It’s always good to learn lessons – even the hard way – with a project. And I learned quite a few with Cloudesley. And I want to knit more sweaters!!

