Isager Aran Tweed | Knitigating Circumstances

I’ve finished my first knitted project of the year:

(It perhaps helps that I started it in September.) This a a design by the designer Torhild Trydal, for Isager. This pattern is not on Ravelry; I purchased it at the yarn store Sommerfuglen in Copenhagen. The pattern is called Torhild’s Snoning, and I bought both a print copy, and the yarn there.

The pullover is knit with two strands of yarn held together: Isager Strik Aran Tweed in Green and Isager Strik Silk Mohair in 37 Bottle Green. It knits up really fast on a US10.5/6.5mm needle, at a stitch gauge of 13.5 stitches/4 inches. It took me four months to knit this because I spent most of that time either not knitting at all, or knitting something else. If you were monogamous, you could easily finish this in under a month.

This was a gift for my daughter Emma, who is modelling here. Emma is very slim and willowy, and the pattern is “One size fits all” with a 54 inch circumference. This means that there is LOTS of positive ease. In fact, on Emma, it has 22 inches of positive ease:

While this massive amount of ease looks cute on someone like Emma, and is clearly in style, I think it could have been made with a wee bit less. You wouldn’t fit this under a coat. You can really see the extra volume from the back:

Emma, I might point out, likes the drape of this pullover. Blocking made a really big difference to the feel and the resulting fabric is very warm, very soft, and with lots of movement – it doesn’t have a heavy feel to it. That said, both Emma and I agree that if I were to make it again, I would probably aim for about 6-8 inches less ease. (By the way, if you are not as slim and willowy as Emma, and want to make this for yourself, you might want to keep it as written. It looks good on me as is – with 12 inches of ease – but it is way too warm for me to wear.)

I like the way Emma has styled it. It looks cute with these flowered trousers and red boots. It is a very rustic looking pullover, so I had imagined it with jeans or leggings, but as usual, Emma manages to mix up styles in an engaging way.

A special thank you to Ina, who helped me to translate from the Danish. I made a few changes, mostly to the neckline. I changed the way that I made the decreases along the neck edges, and also added 30 stitches to the neckline, which I then knit with a smaller needle. I really like the way this turned out.

I almost didn’t post today. This weekend, the first after the UK has left the EU, has left me terribly sad and angry. But then I realised that I could show you a beautiful project, designed by an EU designer, knit with wool from an EU company, bought in an EU yarn store, and modelled by my lovely multi-national daughter, who was raised in the EU.