Did you spot that I’ve just put a new sweater KAL on presale? Welcome to Tangential Blues! For several years now I’ve been working with Blue Moon Fiber Arts to do sweater knitalongs. It’s something I just love doing as Tina produces amazing yarns with a mind blowing range of colours. This year I was looking for a brighter colour and she didn’t disappoint, suggesting Targhee Worsted in Green Wing. This yarn is fat and bouncy, it just calls out for cables so that’s where I started.
The design process began with a lot of time swatching, thinking and modifying cables until I settled on the final stitch pattern. It’s a large statement cable that dominates the front of the sweater. The cables cross over a background of twisted ribbing, weaving in and out. I’d suggest swatching the cable to ensure you know it well by the time are working on the final sweater.
The cable on the sleeve happened accidentally. It starts at the top of the shoulder as a panel of twisted ribbing. As I begin working down the yoke the possibility of introducing a cable for the sleeves with the twisted rib occurred to me. I tried it out and liked the end result! It then ends up returning to a twisted rib at the cuff.
I wanted to wear this sweater as a cosy winter sweater, this meant that I was generous with the sizing and knit a size that was 5″ / 12.5 cm larger than my bust size. This makes for a nice relaxed fit and gives me room to add extra layers underneath as the weather get colder.
There are a couple of other special details for the sweater; one is the folded collar and the other is the short row hem curve. For the collar I picked up stitches, worked a double length and then picked up the cast-on loops with a second needle and knitted then with the bind off to close the collar fold. This avoids the need to seam the collar and creates a nice stretchy knitted fabric. When we reach that spot in the KAL I’ll make sure to add a video for the technique.
The other detail that’s a little bit special is the short row hem curve. I’ve done quite a few short row hems but with this one I wanted it to be very subtle. You can see that there is only a slight dip at the back making it very easy to wear. If you don’t want the curve there then just stop at the length you like (have extra yarn if you’re adding length!) and do the final ribbing!
To allow Blue Moon Fiber Arts enough time to custom dye your yarn colours we’ve got a nice long lead time for this KAL. The cast-on for Tangetial Blues is 27th of October, this also allows everyone to finish current works in progress with time to spare.
So what colour do you think you’re going to knit your Tangential Blues in?
After days and hours of perusing colors and changing my mind several times, I thought to check out the colors of many pairs of corduroy pants I wear all winter and chose PDX Rose because it will look good with every color pants I have, is a flattering color for my skin tone, a color that I don’t have a sweater in, and will show the cables nicely. I also threw in a skein of sock yarn in A Whiter Shade of Pale because the color intrigues me so. That’s a great way to try it out. Choosing colors from Blue Moon is so much fun! I want to try one of their Corvid colors next. Can’t wait to start swatching this sweater once the yarn arrives.