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!!