The Abies Alba Sweater is a sweater knitted with a fingering and a lace yarn with a circular yoke.
You will need a sweater quantity of DK yarn to knit this sweater or a SQ of fingering and lace to knit this sweater in the trendy blend: wool and mohair and silk.
The pattern is available on my shop, on Ravelry , on Lovecrafts or on Makerist.
Abies Alba, a fluffy sweater
1. The story behind Abies Alba, this fluffy sweater
If you subscribe to my newsletter and read my blog regularly, you know that a week ago, I unveiled the project I’ve been working on for 3 years: Peregrine, a local and ethical yarn.
So I had to knit a sweater with this yarn!
After making a cowl that will be released soon all in Peregrine, I thought it would be interesting to mix it with another fiber to see how it would look.
This is how Alba Sweater was born.
2. The construction of this sweater
It is sweater knitting from the thop starting with a few rows of twisted cables ribs and with the circular yoke method. It is then embellished with twisted cables and bobbles that flares out all along the yoke.
Once this part is finished, you will attack the body which is knitted in stockinette stitch.
You will finish the body with an long twisted cable rib stitch trim. The sleeves are added afterwards and are worked in stockinette st as for the body and also end with an long twisted cable rib stitch cuff
*If you want to know more about circular yokes, I posted a YouTube video in French one year ago.
3. What level is needed to knit Abies Alba?
This pattern is not complicated to knit but it is not for beginners.
The most difficult points you might encounter are:
- to make bobbles which require to know how to use a hook and moreover with a yarn in mohair and silk.
- of possibly having to unravel if there is a mistake. Mohair is very complicated to unravel, so it’s best to secure your rows with a lifeline if you’re not too sure.
4. Where to buy the pattern?
The pattern is available on my webshop, on Ravelry in French and English for immediate download. It is also available on Lovecrafts and Makerist.
5. Which sizes are available for this elegant sweater?
Sizes
1 [2, 3] [4, 5] [6, 7, 8]
The pattern is available from 93 cm to 162 cm finished chest measurements and it’s designed to fit with positive ease (+15 – +20 cm).
To understand the ease, I suggest you watch the video below (in French):
It can be worn with more or less ease (in these pictures, the ease is 15 cm for a size 3).
6. Which yarn and material are suggested for knitting this sweater?
The suggested yarns are CLK Peregrine 400 m / 100 g (100% Est A Laine Merino) 1003 [1106, 1189] [1299, 1384] [1672, 1781, 1933] m / 1097 [1210, 1298] [1420, 1514] [1828, 1948, 2114] yds or 3 [3, 3] [4, 4] [5, 5, 5] skeins colorway Ivoire for the fingering yarn and Knitting For Olive Soft Silk Mohair 225 m / 25 g (70% Mohair, 30% Silk) 1122 [1237, 1328] [1453, 1548] [1870, 1993, 2162] m / 1226 [1352, 1452] [1588, 1693] [2045, 2180, 2365] yds or 5 [6, 6] [7, 7] [9, 9, 10] skeins colorway Cloud for the lace yarn
Of course, you can also use another composition such as a twisted merino, a mixture of cotton and acrylic such as Scheepjes Stone Washed (you will have to consider making smaller bobbles with less yarn overs). But you can also consider using two threads together such as a merino fingering yarn with a alpaca lace yarn instead of mohair.
Notions and needles required are as follow:
- 3.5 mm (US 4) 100 cm (40″) circ needle
- 3.75 mm (US 5) 100 cm (40″) circ needle
- Set of 3.5 mm (US 4) DPNs for the sleeves or needles for your preferred method of small circumference knitting
- Set of 3.75 mm (US 5) DPNs for the sleeves or needles for your preferred method of small circumference knitting
- Tapestry needle
- 15 [16, 17] [18, 19] [20, 21, 22] stitch markers if needed
Why Abies Alba?
Finally, why did I name this sweater Abies Alba?
Abies Alba is the scientific name of the European Fir Tree and when I drew the pattern, I thought of the Ardennes forest which is a few steps from the house and is composed mostly of fir trees, which in winter is covered with a white coat.
I hope this sweater will make you fall for it and that this article will make you want to knit it.
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See you soon,
Christelle
