Background
Way back in 2024 I purchased a jumper knitting pattern from Hirismakes at EAYF thinking it could be a fantastic project option for my Castlemilk Moorit (at that point I’d started hand carding the fleece, but put it aside as I wasn’t a hundred percent happy with the rolags). As you know, I like to connect my finished projects to the story of the breed in some way, and felt that this pattern was appropriate considering the breeds origins on the Castlemilk estate and near extinction later on (they are still on the RBST’s watchlist). So, this was a subtly symbolic project with the falling leaves representing the landscape the sheep were bred in (Castlemilk, like many grand estates has a history of forestry), their initial ornamental use, and the precarity of the breed over time.
Castlemilk Moorit is also the perfect colour for autumn leaves, but after spinning the yarn last year and discovering quite a bit of it was coarser than I would be comfortable with next to my skin, I wasn’t sure if clothing was the best choice. However, I then realised that this pattern has a lot of lacework, particularly around the bust, so I would be wearing a layer underneath anyway which would hopefully negate any coarseness. My only concern was if I would have enough softer yarn, however this jumper is knitted from the top down (making a change from the bottom-up jumpers I’ve made so far!), so I decided to start knitting the yoke and if I was worried about the quantity of yarn, I could look at using another yarn for the main body and have it two tone (I later decided against this as I didn’t feel it looked quite right and thankfully had enough Castlemilk Moorit).
Knitting
Unlike some of my other knitting projects, I didn’t make any changes, modifications or adaptions to this pattern, so it was just a case of following the instructions. Ahead of casting on, I knitted a very quick swatch and noted that though my yarn was not quite as chunky in appearance as those referenced in the pattern, it wasn’t gappy. However, being handspun by me and therefore textured, it did lack some of the stitch definition illustrated in the original pattern – this isn’t a problem on the finished garment (in fact I think it looks more tree-like), but it did make it a little harder to see the lace pattern evolve as I was knitting the yoke.
I’m not a crocheter, so I was befuddled by the crocheted bobble instructions, but discovered that Iris has a tutorial for these on Youtube, which helped make sense of everything. The lacework finished, it was time to divide for the sleeves. I’ve been using Lykke interchangeable needles for a few of my projects now – I purchased them second-hand and this project made good use of the shorter cables and stoppers. I was able to transfer sleeve stitches to a shorter cable with stoppers at the end while I knitted the body, which gave the armholes some structure when trying it on for length. I also made use of the joiners when trying on the jumper, as the longest cable in the set isn’t quite wide enough to get over my shoulders, but using the joiners I can add another cable’s length.
I completely forgot to switch to the smaller needles on the ribbing of the body, but I don’t think it’s too noticeable and creates a more slouchy waistline on what is otherwise a more fitted jumper. I then re-attached my needles to the sleeves one at a time to continue knitting. I’m not a fan of the magic loop method and prefer to use either DPN’s or a small circular, but since I don’t have the right size of either, I opted to use a slightly fudged combination of magic loop and DPN technique with my existing cable. I remembered to switch to the smaller needles for the ribbed cuffs on the sleeves and then all that was left was to weave in the ends.
I used around 700m of yarn for this jumper and did end up having to use some of the coarser yarn for the bottom of the body and sleeves (where it comes into the least contact with the skin so isn’t noticeable). Though not quite as dramatic as some of my more recent projects, this jumper is perfect for throwing on as an extra layer when it’s chilly and feels like a woolly hug!
Happy Knitting!
Loose Ends 