Didn’t Make it to Rhinebeck? Learn about the “It” Sweater of the Season

The New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, known in knitting circles as Rhinebeck, is pretty much the fiber-related gathering of the year. It always falls around my husband’s birthday, so I’ll probably never get to go, but I love seeing pictures and hearing stories from the event.

Kay Gardiner from Mason-Dixon Knitting indulged my desire for Rhinebeck-news when she reported on the must-knit sweater of the season based on her trend-spotting at the festival. She said she saw lots of Birkin sweaters, designed by Caitlin Hunter, and that the design looked great on a lot of bodies and in a range of colors.

Its a top-down, circular yoke sweater with bands of floral motifs on the yoke. The original was worked in pastels, but there’s a black and white version, too, that comes off a lot more geometric and visually striking. It’s all about what you like and apparently this is a garment for many moods.

The pattern runs $7 and is available on Ravelry.

Have you ever been to Rhinebeck? If you were there this year, did you notice this sweater? I’d love to hear all about it!

[Photo: Jonna Hietala via Ravelry.]

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I happen to live in the Northern Hemisphere, but I know we have a lot of Southern Hemisphere friends, too, who are heading into the cooler months as we are warming up. Whichever one of the seasons you’re in, you might want to stitch up this sweet little hood.

This pattern by saskie&co is called snug hood and it uses two colors of yarn to make a close-fitting pixie style hood (almost a balaclava but it doesn’t cover your face, though there is a neck covering portion to keep you a little warmer). You can use the fingering weight wool and mohair held together that are called for in the pattern, or use a single strand of DK weight yarn.

The neck portion and the edging around the face are worked in ribbing in a single color, while the body of the hat includes an allover colorwork flower pattern. The project is worked both flat and in the round and there is colorwork that is knit flat, which means you’ll have to purl in colorwork (which some people don’t like; also, you can’t see what you’re doing as well on the back of the work).

The pattern comes in one size and the colorwork is charted. Testers noted this is a quick and easy project and a great way to learn some new skills (chart reading, working stranded colorwork flat) if you’ve never tried those things before. They noted the hood is cute, comfortable and warm, and a few said it didn’t take as much yarn as the pattern suggests, so bear that in mind if you’re trying to use stash.

Speaking of the pattern notes, check out all the cute color variations in the projects on Ravelry. From pink and red to blue and white to gray and cream, there are lots of great options to think about.

You can buy this pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: saskie&co]

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