Blog – Woolenberry

Like I mentioned on this post last week, I’m currently working on a sweater for this year’s Warm & Woolly collection. I’ve made quite a lot of progress since then as I just don’t want to put it down. I’ve separated the body and sleeves and I’m now knitting the body. You can now see the beautiful lace panel on the front, and you might even recognise it from Lake Song, one of my all-time favourite shawls.

I’m knitting the sweater with sport weight Malabrigo Arroyo. I love working with this yarn and the colourway I’m using, Pearl, has to be one of the most beautiful colours I’ve ever seen. Needless to say, the sweater is growing quickly and I can’t wait to wear it!

What I love about seamless top-down sweaters is that you can try them on while knitting. And it seems I can’t stop trying this sweater on! I knit a couple of rows, and then I have to try it on again. The proper way to do that, is to either insert all stitches to a scrap yarn (the time-consuming way) or to take another circular needle and knit (or slip) half of the stitches to it (the smart way).

But sometimes you’re in such a hurry to try the sweater on that you convince yourself that “Surely this 100 cm / 40 inch circular needle I’m using is long enough so that I can get the sweater over my boobs without losing any stitches if I’m super careful.” And then 45 seconds later you’re trapped wearing a half-sweater with stitches unravelling under your left armpit (where you can’t even see) and your husband (who doesn’t know how to knit to save his life) is ordering you to stop moving so he can try rescuing the running stitches… But I’m just being hypothetical here, as I always use the smart way with two circulars to try on my sweater. From now on, anyway.

I’m happy to hear that so many of you are also eagerly waiting for this sweater to be finished. You can follow my progress on @woolenberry Instagram. The pattern will be out later this year along with the rest of the Warm & Woolly collection.

Sign up to Woolenberry e-letter to stay in the loop!

Look at how Winter Berries has grown! I’ve been busy with the new Warm & Woolly collection, so I sent my Winter Berries wip out into the world. I just got it back from my assistant Pauliina, who helped me out by knitting it a bit for me.

I’m very excited about this design and the yarn I’m using. The Fibre Co. Lore is a dream to knit with – both Pauliina and myself can attest to that! It’s very woolly and slightly rustic yet still soft. And it promises to be very warm. (More about my yarn choice in this previous post.)

I love how this simple eyelet pattern looks like berries scattered on a garter stitch base. The shawl is almost at a point where I can start working on the textural lace border, where the berry theme will continue. You can see where the pattern name comes from, can’t you?

Winter Berries pattern will be out in November as part of the 2018 Woolenberry Shawl Club. You can still join the club here.

I have a photo shoot scheduled for the finished shawl next Wednesday, so I better get knitting. Stay tuned for Winter Berries sneak peek next week!

Remember last year’s Warm & Woolly collection? It had three patterns with Tukuwool yarn: Arctic Willow hat, Snowberry socks and Calluna sweater. Beautiful handmade wardrobe staples for keeping you warm from head to toe.

Calluna is a great basic and timeless sweater pattern. Simple enough for first-time sweater knitters. And if you’ve already got some experience, you can easily modify it to your liking. I’ve seen great versions pop up on Ravelry and Instagram. Some knitters have added stripes or colour blocks to their sweaters. Nanna (Laventelin on Ravelry) loves the pattern so much she’s knitted three Calluna sweaters so far!

I’m now working on the second Warm & Woolly collection that will continue the theme. This year’s collection includes a shawl, hat and sweater with Malabrigo yarns. Warm & Woolly 2018 goes live in mid-December!

I chose Malabrigo Mechita in colours Polar Morn and Sand Bank for the shawl. Mechita is a single ply fingering weight yarn with 100% merino. For the hat and sweater, I’m using Malabrigo Arroyo in colourway Pearl. Arroyo is a sport weight merino yarn with 306 m / 335 yds per 100 g. I can’t believe I haven’t knitted with Pearl before! It could be the most perfect grey ever made.

The shawl and hat are still in the sketching and swatching phase, but I have the sweater on my needles. Perhaps you’ve seen it on Instagram? It’s a top-down raglan with a beautiful lace panel in the front. The lace might even be familiar to you. It’s the same lace I used in Lake Song shawl. I’m so looking forward to wearing this sweater and I hope you’ll love it too! I can’t wait to share more with you next week.