I am beyond excited to share this new design with you today! I've been on a crazy sweater kick these past few months, as I have been dreaming of more wooly goodness to wear. So what a better way to embrace the beginning of Fall than having a new lightweight shrug to layer on top of dresses and tees?
Iris is a sweet little shrug knit in the stunning Samite from Blacker Yarns aka my most recent yarn crush.
As soon as I received the skeins, I knew that I wanted to make a lightwear sweater that would be a perfect piece for the Fall and Spring.
Light as a feather yet so warm and cosy. Wear it on top of a simple tee with a pair of skinny jeans, or on top of a dress, maybe with ascarf or a cowl if the air is a bit chilly, and you’re ready for a new season!
Construction-wise I wanted to revisit the technique that I have used on the Myst shawl: Iris is knit flat, starting with a provionnal cast on. It is knit sideways then a three needle bind off is used to create the opening for the sleeves and a few rows are knit in the round for the cuffs.
Stitches are then picked up to create the hem. And voilà! Easy peasy.
The whole thing might look a bit intimidating, but honestly it is so easy! Even that lace! It's just a matter of increasing and decreasing stitches here and there!
Yarn
2 (2, 3) skeins of Blacker Yarns Samite, 503 yards (460m) OR approx. 1006 yards (920m) / 1006 yards (920m) / 1509 yards (1380m) of fingering weight yarn.
Needles
A set of US5)3.75mmneedles A crochet hook of the same size
Gauge
19 sts x 36 rows = 4” (10cm) in lace stitch after blocking. The lace pattern is worked over 22 sts and 12 rows
Notions
stitch markers waste yarn
Sizes
33" (37", 41") [83.8 (93.9, 104.1)cm] long and 22.4" (57cm) deep / long
to fit bust circumference 30-36" (38"-44" / 46”-52").
Now let's talk about this stunning yarn shall we?
First of all I've included below all the colorways available in this base. There's a lot. And they are ALL stunning. The Blacker Team had sent me a sample of each of the colorways, and let me tell you that I've had the hardest time deciding on which one to pick. Gosh they are so pretty. The second yellow one is wayyyy out of my comfort zone and my usual color palette, but I still could really see myself in a sweater of that color, especially this winter when everything will be so dark and gloomy.
Anyway, I'm rambling!
Pictures ©SkeinsSisters
I talked about having a yarn crush for this base. And that's not only because I think that color-wise this is the best base that Blacker Yarn has produced, but mostly because I have spent HOURS in company of this yarn, and as soon as I had it put down that I wanted to work with it again.
I'm not really a "lace" weight type of girl (if that even means anything), but what I mean is that I don't often knit with anything lighter than a fingering weight, because I always think that it'll take me a billion years to complete anything, furthermore a whole sweater.
So to be honest, I thought that Samite was a fingering weight. I don't think that I would have imagined creating this type of design if I would have known that the yarn wasn't a fingering yet.
Oh foolish of me. That prejudice wasn't justified at all. I would have missed so much by not knitting with this blend, because I had a blast.
It flew off my needles. I think that the stitch pattern that I have used might have played a role in that, but I also think that the woolen spun silk had way more "grip" than a traditional worsted one, which made the stitches fly on my metal needles.
The fabric after blocking is so strong, yet rustically soft and as light as a feather.
You can gets your hands on this blend at Blacker Yarns in you are in Europe, throught The Woolly Thistle in the US and at Skeins Sisters if you're in Australia
The pattern is now available for download on Ravelry! You can use the coupon code IRISSAMITE15 to receive 15% during checkout (valid until Friday 8th September 2017 Riga middnight)