Deep Dive on the Alpine Bloom Sweater
I recently made the Alpine Bloom top from Caitlin Hunter out of Merino Cloud from ArtYarns. I love how this sweater turned out and I get tons of compliments every time I wear it. I want to devote this blog post to talking about this pattern in some detail because I can't recommend this pattern without some caveats.
When I was at H+H in Chicago in May, I visited the ArtYarns booth and worked with my friend Lucinda from Mont Tricot to pick out colors specifically for this top. Check out the color combinations below. But first I have to share information about the modifications I made to the pattern. And I'm going to be honest here that I have issues with Caitlin Hunter's patterns. They are beautiful but they often don't fit well - at least in my size. And I've talked to several other people as well, who have trouble with her patterns fitting them. I had actually sworn that I would never make another one and then I fell in love with this design.
So here are the things to keep in mind - the neck often doesn't fit well. In the previous sweaters I've made from this designer, the neck was too small. To adjust for that issue I started with the next size up for the cast on stitches and worked that size to the first increase round and then adjusted the number of stitches I added so that I ended up with the correct number for my size and then proceeded from there.
(Neckline detail)
She doesn't do her short rows in the right place. She stacks them up too close together on the back. To fix that, I started them further around, so that they would be spread out further. You want them to go past your shoulder on the first pass back and forth. Then you can work the rest of the short rows as written and they'll work better.
(I'm pointing to where I did my first short row turn here - see how it's around to the front of the shoulder?)
Finally, the yoke would have been way too long if I'd knit the whole motif pattern, so I shortened it. I don't like having my armholes down at my waist. If you compare the photo of my sweater to the pattern photo, you'll see that I shortened it by about 12 rounds.
None of these modifications are difficult to do at all and they made a huge difference in how the sweater fits. Now for the fun part - color combinations!
Merino Cloud from ArtYarns is an exquisite blend of cashmere and merino. This yarn is just a dream to knit with and it's so comfortable to wear. I put together ombré colors and a semi-solid that will work perfectly for this sweater. The great thing too is that this yarn has great yardage, so you'll only need one skein of the contrast color for sizes 1-7 and 2 for sizes 8-9. And for the main color you'll need 2 skeins for sizes 1-4 and 3 skeins for sizes 5-9.
The colors starting from top left and working clockwise are - N26A & 71029, H44 & 71057, 2263 & 7527 and 356 & 71043.
Again starting from top left and working clockwise - N33A & 71023, N13C & 71032 and 242 & 7193.
Of course, you can always choose your own color combination! And if you need help figuring out your size, just send us an email or give us a call at the shop. Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts. -- Sunni
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