I’m sure lots of you already know Claire – she’s a superb knitter, lives in my old stomping ground of Edinburgh, and, for many years, has managed our friendly KDD Ravelry group. Claire is also the person whose positive experiences and super-stylish demonstration of grey hair inspired me to finally embrace my own.
As you see, Claire and I are flying the flag here for grey-haired women in grey knitwear. And I’m particularly happy Claire has been persuaded into modelling, because although we are the same height, we are different shapes. Claire knitted Sarkle in the fifth size, and to the regular, rather than the cropped length of my sweater. She looks fantastic.
Claire also chose to knit her sweater in the Horkel shade of Ooskit. I was interested to see how this dark charcoal grey would work for this pattern . . . .
And just love how Claire’s yoke looks!
It is a symphony of subtle texture.
This is one of those yoke patterns whose intuitive logic makes it a lot of fun to work. Both Claire and I really enjoyed knitting it.
So as well as the Riach colourway I showed you yesterday, we now have Horkel kits in all sizes in the shop, and if you’ve already yarn in hand and want to knit yourself a Sarkle like Claire’s, the pattern is also available as a single download from the KDD shop or Ravelry.
Thanks for the brilliant test knitting and modelling, Claire! But I’m afraid there’s no going back now – who knows when Tom and I will next pop up in your garden for another knitwear shoot?
KDD & Co 
Oh decisions! Def the longer one but which color? I saw you in the white one first and immediately added it to my knit list but seeing the dark one has me wondering which to knit!
LikeLike
Claire is such a beautiful model, her Sarkle is perfect in color, size, and shape for her! I’d love to see her modeling more patterns and am grateful for her being such a kind moderator of the KDD ravelry group. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Claire’s hair is so lovely! I’m still dyeing mine with henna as I am only partially grey but that is what I aspire to. Love the grey sweater too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was persuaded to not dye my silvers (ever- I’ve had silver hairs in my dark hair since I was about 12) because I had older women around me, in my family and at home, who went grey naturally, and looked amazing with it. My partner calls my silver stripes my tinsel, which is rather lovely, I think. And i think it’s great that now it’s much more socially acceptable to just do what makes you happy- dye, not dye, whatever.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Both of you (and your knits!) are beautiful!
LikeLike
When my eldest granddaughter was a wee lass with a head of gold curls , she said to me “Grandma, your hair is not golden like mine ………it is silver!” And that has made me see myself in a different light.
I love the jumper as modelled by Claire—she makes it look so wearable, and has such a friendly face. Thank you for adding her to your group of real women wearing your designs —including you, of course.
LikeLike
Brilliant, yes I will have to get that pattern and start spinning……..and yes most of my wool is lovely greys. Thanks for the photo shoot!
LikeLike
Thanks much to Claire for modeling her beautiful sweater. I appreciate an older model with gorgeous grey hair. My hair is grey! It is short as I copied Kates cropped hair. I am 73. Thanks much for the positive images.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I fell instantly in love with Sarkle! Downloaded and printed!
Thank you for including several lengths and so many sizes! You and Claire both look fabulous!
LikeLike
Claire looks fantastic! Also interesting to see how the eye focuses on a different part of the pattern in the light and dark shades of yarn. In the lighter shade, I focused more on the purl stitches, which formed a sort of spoke motif, and in the darker shade, my eye is drawn to the knitted stitches. Here, I see a “heart” motif that I didn’t even notice in your last post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the sweater and the yarn. Thank you both for wearing your gray hair with pride. I’m allowing my own hair color to change naturally. I’m happy with my appearance but annoyed with the pressure to color my hair.
LikeLike
What a joy to see Claire over here. Usually we “meet” only on instagram and ravelry. And her sarkle is stunning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
As someone who has never coloured her hair (no desire!), it is nice to see the wearing of hair naturally normalized. Claire looks lovely.
I also appreciate seeing a full-length version of the garment, as someone with a fuller bust. I love the jaunty cropped look on you, but the proportions are not ideal on my figure (although I am, like you, shorter up top and long in the legs). Nice to see different versions on different figure types.
Finally, so interesting to see these designs using this lovely new yarn, with some cable inspiration. I always admire Norah Gaughan’s eye-catching work.
LikeLike
Definitely pop by Claire’s backyard again – she is a fabulous model! And yay for embracing all the greys.
LikeLiked by 3 people
À quand une traduction en français de vos patrons? Très frustrant pour les tricoteuses françaises de ne pas pouvoir tricoter vos si beaux modèles !
LikeLike
Thank you Claire and Kate. It really helps to see the other length and a different shape. I am more Claire’s shape and, much as I love the look of the ooskit and Kate in her Sarkle, I thought I might be too round to suit it myself. The longer length makes all the difference. I think I have difficulty imagining what something will look like on me and have often knitted things for myself that really don’t fit and look better on other people which is fine for the eventual recipient but disappointing for me. It is also good to see Grey as a colour choice that can be embraced.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You both look wonderful, it really is a lovely pattern and I love both shades. Congratulations to Claire on being an excellent model! I am also grey haired and enjoy wearing my natural grey jumpers; can guarantee I will be knitting at least one more :-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this design, and both versions are just lovely and you both look great in them. It’s just the jumper design I’ve been looking for for some stash yarn, but also tempted by the new grey shades.
I’m thinking I’m going to embrace my grey too after 3 months in lockdown 2 here in Australia, I’m getting very used to the grey.
LikeLike
Fellow Victorian here…We are so close and when we look back: my what we have achieved! Includes lots of grey hair of course. I’ve always regarded my grey hairs as badges of honour. I have earned every single damn one of them, through worry, care, and hard work as a mother, wife, family member, community member and teacher. They reflect who I am.
Rant over!
LikeLiked by 1 person
PS: love Claire’s dark grey version
LikeLike