Lavender sweater in superfine alpaca

This is my new favorite sweater – although it took FOREVER to knit, from the bottom up on US 4s and it seemed like I knit stockinette for most of the summer! This made it the perfect summer traveling / vacation project, and I got the bulk of the body knit on long drives. The smocking on the top was a new skill, but I didn’t find it difficult to learn once I viewed it on an online video.

I used Joseph Galler Heather Prime Alpaca for the yarn – a 100% superfine alpaca from Peru, DK weight, and a whopping 665 yards per skein. For this reason, the entire sweater took only two skeins of Color Pennyroyal.

The sweater is Coraline, a pattern by Ysolda Teague – this is the second one of Ysolda’s sweaters I’ve knit (I knit Liesl earlier this year) and I’ve found both patterns to produce results that fit wonderfully. I used the recommended US 4 needles, and knit size 40” (the smallest option on the Large – 2X pattern). The fit is beautiful everywhere except it’s a little tight in the armpits, but that’s because I messed up and forgot to knit several rows before beginning the smocking. Oh well . . .

The buttons are handmade from this Etsy site. They’re larger than the little seed buttons used on the pattern model, but they matched so beautifully, I liked them best, even though it gives the top of the sweater a slightly different look.

The alpaca yarn drapes beautifully and feels very soft, lightweight and warm, all at the same time.