Thank you for all of your jukebox suggestions! I will update the itunes playlist later today. . . but first . . .
This is Blue in Green: a super-cosy, super-quick, super-simple smock-style pullover of the type in which I want to live all winter. And it has pockets.
Unusually, this pullover is not knitted in KDD yarn. I found myself yearning for a very specific blue, an in-between-y blue, a mid-teal blue with a reasonable amount of green in it, and so I did what a lot of knitters do these days, I created the exact colour I was after by holding two different strands of yarn together.
The yarns in question are Studio Donegal “Soft” Donegal (in shade 5528) and Drops kidsilk in shade 27. The Donegal is spun in the same place as our Milarrochy Tweed, and is available from great local yarn stores such as This is Knit in Dublin. The kidsilk is one of countless 75% mohair, 25% silk blends that are currently on the market, and is widely available. Yes, I certainly could have used 2 strands of Milarrochy Tweed held together with 1 of kidsilk to achieve much the same result, but a strange thing I have noticed about making one’s own yarn is that it is perfectly possible to develop a range of 25 shades, including 6 different shades of blue, and still not have the precise blue you are after.
This, however, is that blue.
This design deploys a simple top-down construction with which many of you will be familiar. The upper back is cast on first, and shaped with a good number of short rows to create a satisfying shoulder slope. Then the left and right fronts are picked up separately, connected at the neck, and worked downwards to match the back. After front and back pieces are joined for working in the round at the armscyes, the knitter works to the desired length, before setting stitches aside (and casting them on again) for two front inset pockets, before completing the bottom rib. The sleeves are picked up from the armscyes and worked top down, and then all that’s left is to pick up the neckline, and pop in some pockets.
As you can see, I used a contrasting yarn (in a fabulously bright, bold signal red) for the pocket and neck linings. You only need a small amount of yarn (<50g) for this, and as this particular yarn is something very special and local which I’ve used for another club design, I’m afraid I’m going to keep its identity a wee secret for now. But in time, all will be revealed.
Using a contrast colour for the pocket linings can be a lot of fun (especially if like me, you like to play matchy-matchy with your accessories). But it can also be kind of limiting (if you want to pair your pullover with a wider range of different-coloured outfits, for example) – so do choose your pocket-lining yarn with care and forethought!
The neck rib is turned in upon itself (which makes the neckline sturdier, and a little more upright) while the pocket tops are finished off with i-cord. These finishing smock-y touches, by the way, are entirely optional: I think this pullover would look great with a more conventional crew neck, and you could easily omit the pockets if they aren’t to your taste.
This is both an incredibly simple, and an incredibly quick pullover to knit: plain stockinette, 4 stitches to the inch, a couple of interesting details. It could easily be made by a beginner as their first sweater, and I’ve tried (as I always do) to write a pattern that is straightforward and easy to follow, with numbered steps and clearly worded instructions. I find that there are times, in knitting, for heirloom projects, for fine gauge stranded colourwork, or for a sweater with several different charts to follow . . . and then there are times for the kind of pullover that you can whip up in a few days, throw on, and get outside. This is a garment of the latter kind.
The pullover’s name is Blue in Green, which is both the shade of yarn I yearned for and the name of a tune that’s closely associated with Bill Evans, and which means an awful lot to me. I’ll tell you more about that tune on Sunday, and here are two albums you might enjoy listening to in the meantime, both of which were recorded in 1959: Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue (a record with which many of you will be, I’m sure, familiar, and to whose expansive, spacious sound Bill Evans is absolutely key) and Evans’ own Portrait in Jazz (the first album Evans recorded with his iconic trio of Paul Motian (drums) and Scott LaFaro (bass)).
This is the first day of the Rip it Up club, and there’s quite a bit of behind-the scenes admin involved in ensuring that you all receive your first patterns and discount codes: please bear with us while things filter through, and hop over to the KDD Ravelry group in the meantime to have a chat with your club comrades. Brand-new club members, do bear in mind that it can take us a day or two to get you all set up, especially at this busy time. And if you haven’t yet joined the club, there’s still time to do so: as well as Blue in Green there are 11 other patterns, and 3 months of camaraderie to enjoy, as we knit and listen to great music together. Plus, of course, the beautiful Rip it Up print book at the club’s end!
Why not Join us?
See you all on Sunday, for more about Blue in Green
love, Kate x
Join the Rip it Up club here!
Blue in Green is on Ravelry here!
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