Details

Pattern:

Such a Winter’s Day by Heidi Kirrmaier

Yarn:

New Lanark Spinning Co, in Bramble colour (a dark red and blue mix, part of their Heather Blends collection). 100% wool (blended breeds). Aran weight yarn, 100g balls. (They have been traditionally spinning in Scotland since 1785!)

Cost:

$6.53 (£5.15) for the pattern, however this is a discounted price as I bought 4 of Heidi’s patterns which resulted in a discount.  If this is the 2nd time I’ve used it does that mean it’s now free?

The yarn cost £56 for 7 x 100g skeins, through Bunloit Woolery.

Timeline:

Started – 15th April 2022 (and then sat unloved for months over the summer)

Completed – 23rd October 2022

Link to Ravelry Project page.

Pattern summary

This is my 2nd time knitting this pattern. The first time was 3 years ago and the number of mistakes I kept making was crazy. (Link to previous blog post about that version.). A quarter of the body was knitted with 3.75mm and the rest with 4mm and that was not intentional. It was early days in my knitting journey so I kept making rookie mistakes. I do absolutely love the first version though and after well over a hundred days of wearing it it still looks great. I’ve never used (or needed to use) a pill/bobble remover on it, it’s wearing a little thin at the elbow though, but I lean whilst knitting.

Knitting things a 2nd time means there’s no trying to work out what the pattern means. Where most people get confused is on the stitch pattern but it’s easy to look ahead a few stitches and count back to see if your first stitch after an increase should be a knit or a purl. The Broken American Moss stitch is fun to knit and hard wearing, well definitely in the yarn I’ve used.

Pattern modifications

This time I have mostly stuck to the pattern. I made size M2 and used 3.75mm needles on the body and collar and used 4mm needles on the arms. (I always go up a needle size on arms). If I make a 3rd (and that’s entirely possible) I may knit the size down with 4mm and 4.5mm needles.

I added extra rows and another increase on the yoke, as I do find Heidi’s patterns can be a little snug on the arms…she does have very skinny arms so maybe sizes up from those. I have bingo wings to accommodate 😂

When doing the arm I also picked up 2 extra stitches, but knit2tog through the back loop to close the gaps on the following round. At the end of the next pattern repeat (6 rows) I made my first under arm decreases to get me back to the pattern size.

I knit the body length as per pattern but noticed on my first version I added more length. I’ll see how I get on but could unpick the bind off and add more length if I’m not happy after it’s blocked.

Yarn summary

The New Lanark yarns are my favourite. If you don’t like woolly wool then it won’t be for you, but I love it’s complex colours, it’s robustness and it’s warmth. It is a mix of breeds spun on a hydro powered mill in Scotland.

I am such a fan of it I have the following things made from it:

• My first Such a Winter’s Day jumper
• A tote bag (felted in the washing machine)
• A pair of Hastings (colour-work) mittens using the DK weight.

In my stash I have 7 x Aran weight in their Verona (deep pink) colour and in DK I have 2 new colours and 2 half skeins left over from the mittens. [Oops! I now also have 6 x Aran weight in their Blueberry colour and a grey chunky skein. I only needed the link for this post and accidentally hit the Sale tab and found it had 25% off some colours…so I had to buy it…I mean it would be crazy not to, right?!]

They combine many breeds and colours in their yarns and this rich bramble colour actually has some yellow fibres in it! The jumper is always worn with a t-shirt underneath and after washing it does soften a fair bit but this is woolly and that means warm! We keep our house pretty cool during autumn days, about 16°C (61°F) and I’m cosy in it. In the evening and in winter when the heating comes on it’s 18°C (65°F) and I’m not overheating in it. At the moment it’s been about 12°C (54°F) outside and I’m fine in it with a rain coat over the top.

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