Juuri

One great thing about being a knitwear designer is that I sometimes get to try out new yarns in advance. Last autumn, I got a sweater quantity of the new Tukuwool DK. And of course, I designed a sweater pattern for the yarn but then I had to wait for the yarn release and then, for the colder weather so that you could imagine yourself wearing a DK weight sweater. But the time has come!

What: Juuri / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 4.5 mm

From: Tukuwool DK, 495 g

Since this is a new yarn, let's start there. I was super excited to try it out but also nervous since untreated Finnsheep wool in DK weight could easily be quite coarse and stiff.

But this yarn stole my heart on the first stitch. I was surprised to find it had a wonderfully loose twist which made the yarn airy and light - and somehow even a bit softer than Tukuwool Fingering. I liked it a lot! I chose Ujo color for my sweater. This greyish pink is my favorite from the Tukuwool color chart.

The thick yarn was screaming cables. Inspiration came easily and I wanted to create a lushious cabled sweater with lots of positive ease and a tall cowl neck.

Juuri is worked seamlessly top down. The shoulders are worked in ribbing while shaping them with short rows. Once the short rows are done, the ribbing starts to twist and turn into cables for the rest of the body. The long sleeves are stockinette stitch with tall ribbed cuffs. The tall cowl neck is also worked in ribbing and the hem has a slit.

Originally, we took the photos last winter but I figure we should have another photoshoot as I'm hoping there's still some time to go until snow starts falling. You can find the pattern on Ravelry and my web shop (annajohannadesigns.com) and you can get 15% discount with the code ROOT until Ocober 17th.

Limelight

Usually, designing starts with an inspiration - usually. But sometimes, a friend needs your help and you might have to design something very specific. That happened to me last autumn when I got a message from Laine team telling me their upcoming shawl book was in need of one more very specific type of a shawl and they would need the sample for the photoshoot in just couple of weeks. Luckily, I was able to help them out.

What: Limelight / Own pattern

How: Circular needle 3.75 mm

From: Black Elephant Merino Singles Fingering + Triskelion Branwen 4-ply, 91 + 70 g

What they were after was a crescent shaped shawl in SW merino in bright happy colours. I had no trouble finding a perfect yarn combo in my stash and once I paired them up it was as if they were meant for this particular shawl.

I named the shawl Limelight after the bright green colour of the silk merino that I paired up with a creamy speckle dyed merino. The crescent shaped shawl is a fun combination of garter stitch, delicate lace and stripes. The stripes are worked with short rows and are all a different length. You'll need two skeins of fingering weight yarn, one skein each colour.

The pattern is part of Laine publishing's book 52 Weeks of Shawls and now you can also get it as an individual download on Ravelry, my web shop, PayHip and Lovecrafts. Use the code LIME to get 15% discount until October 9th.