float upstream

Hello! Kate here. It’s time for another release from the Bold Beginner Knits collection – the Upstream pullover.

Seamless yoked pullovers are a great first sweater project for a beginner knitter to tackle, and I knew I wanted to include one in this collection. And loving the muted marl-y palette of Àrd-Thìr, I was keen for the yoke to combine a few shades. But I also knew that stranded colourwork can be tricky and frustrating for a beginner: because of issues with tension and technique it can be difficult to jump right in with a large project like a sweater, and shaping a circular yoke for the first time is enough to cope with without having to manage two yarns simultaneously.

Slipped stitches were the answer! This intriguing pattern is actually just a series of basic stripes, in which slipped stitches (when held at the front of the work) create an undulating effect which travels, in highly satisfying waves, around the yoke. When working the pattern, only one shade is ever in use.

This is one of those motifs where just doing something really simple lends the fabric an arresting visual appearance that makes the design appear much more complicated than it is. It also has an interestingly sculptural quality – without appearing fussy or messy (which can occasionally be the case with texture / colour combinations). I fell head over heels for this super-simple pattern the instant I swatched it!

I knew I’d got things right after I showed my swatch to Jane. The first thing she said was “OOO”, the second was that the combination of texture and colour in the slipped-stitch pattern reminded her of geology (from which she often draws inspiration in her art), and the third was “can I really knit that?” Yes, Jane, you really can!

So if you are a bold beginner knitter like Jane: if you can knit in the round, change yarns, and work stripes, you can make this sweater.

But of course, you can knit this pullover what kind of knitter you are. I personally find this pattern incredibly addictive to knit, as well as fascinating to look at. That stitch pattern just somehow says knit me!

And we now have Upstream kits in the KDD shop if you’d like to do just that!

If you have pre-ordered Bold Beginner Knits, you will have received a message letting you know that the Upstream pattern has been added to your Ravelry library.

If you haven’t pre-ordered the collection (but would like to) you can do so here (you’ll receive all 6 patterns as PDFs as they are released, plus a print copy of the book, shipped to any address worldwide, for just £15.00)

After placing an order, you’ll receive message with a code, allowing you to add the Bold Beginner Knits downloads to your Ravelry library. Please ensure you enter your code from the ebook page here.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a wee tutorial to illustrate a particular pattern instruction that can sometimes baffle beginner sweater knitters: “join body and sleeves into yoke”

Links:
Preorder Bold Beginner Knits
Bold Beginner knits ebook
Upstream single pattern download
Upstream kit to knit