Knit a Mohair Sweater with a Colorful Twist

I’ve always wanted to knit a mohair sweater for myself. They’re both light and warm, and it just seems like a luxury that I, as a longtime knitter, should have indulged in by now.

(I’m thinking next year might be the year of finally making some of those things I’ve always wanted to make, so I’d better add this to the list!)

The Instant Crush sweater from Joji Locatelli uses two strands of mohair held together to make a DK weight yarn. (If you’re sensitive to mohair or just don’t want to use it for whatever reason, you can sub in any DK weight yarn.)

It uses four colors, and I love how the fuzzy of the yarn makes it look like the sweater glows.

It’s available in 10 sizes and meant to be worn with no ease or slight negative ease (meaning the actual measurement of the sweater is a little smaller than your body’s measurements). The chest measurements on the sweater range from 28 to 66 inches. The colorwork is fully charted for all sizes.

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

Mohair is notorious for being a little touchy to work with, so if you’re worried you can use a strand of mohair and a different, coordinating lace weight yarn. The main problem people often have with mohair is the difficult in ripping back if you need to (which is always a possibility when doing colorwork). The best advice is to go slowly, one stitch at a time, rather than actually trying to pull out a bunch of stitches at once like you would with other fibers.

If you try to pull the fibers will just cling more tenaciously to each other and cause knots. I have read that putting it in the freezer before trying to undo stitches helps, too, but I have no idea if that’s true. Just take it slow and read the pattern carefully and hopefully you won’t have to rip back anyway.

[Photo: Joji Locatelli]

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There are so many things I love about the Stacking Stars pattern from Frankie Brown.

First, it looks like a kid’s toy, which it totally could be, though the intent is to stack the stars into a Christmas tree bit of decor.

I love the rainbow gradient, which makes it all the more cheerful, and serves as a reminder that, while you can plan out your colors beautifully, you can also use your stash for your own brilliant hodgepodge of a star tree.

It includes patterns for nine different sizes of stars, from 2 inch to 6 inch, which makes the perfect pile to look like a tree. What’s more, these stars are worked in garter stitch, so it’s a pretty easy pattern, even if you’re new to knitting. And the stars are solid, so not only can you use them to make your own amazing stack of a tree, you can make more to decorate packages, use as Christmas tree ornaments, make a darling garland, or all of the above.

The pattern calls for DK weight yarn but of course you could play with the yarn weight, too, to make stars that are even larger or smaller than the ones shown. And the bigger ones are made by just working more repeats, so you could continue to work as established to make larger ones to suit all your crafty purposes if you like.

Frankie’s patterns are free on Ravelry, but they ask that people who enjoy their patterns send a donation to the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation. Through the years they have raised more that £26,000 for the charity, which helps families of kids with liver disease. You can donate to Frankie’s fundraiser here. They have tons of great holiday projects and other designs you can check out on their designer page on Ravelry.

[Photo: Frankie Brown]

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