My Autumn Threipmuir

For some reason I had previously knit only one Ysolda Teague pattern, which was a MKAL shawl a few years back. Yet, when I spied this Threipmuir (don’t ask me how to pronounce it) on Instagram I absolutely had to knit it. It had been a while since I had taken on a colorwork project, after all.

Under the Yarn section of the Threipmuir pattern it states that “Nonsuperwash, ‘sticky’ wool yarns are ideal.” Like a good American, I had always broke with fair isle tradition and included merino in all my sweaters, including sweaters with colorwork. This time, however, I followed Ysolda’s advice and sought a more raw wool for my Threipmuir.

While perusing the Threipmuir projects on Ravelry I came across voolenvine‘s lovely green version. She used mostly Jamieson and Smith 2 ply jumper weight, a Shetland wool available in a multitude of vivid colors. Others used this yarn as well, and I figured Ysolda would definitely approve.

With autumn right around the corner, visions of falling leaves and bright blue skies drifted through my brain while I selected my colors. Given all the options, I spent quite some time on The Woolly Thistle‘s website playing with various color combos before finally deciding on 125 (red-orange), 14 FC (blue-purple) and 71 (blue-green). The colorway names may not be glamorous, but the price was unbeatable. I paid only $65 including shipping for my sweater quantity!

As seen in a few shots above, I use a rotating silverware caddy to organize my balls of yarn when knitting colorwork. As I’ve stated before, I do not create strands in colorwork but rather pick up the would-be floats behind every single stitch, resulting in no floats behind my work. It’s exhausting and makes the caddy a must, but I personally love the stretchy finish. If you are interested in learning more about my tedious colorwork technique I have a how-to video here.

I posted the above shot on Instagram to obtain feedback on whether to add colorwork to the sleeves. (The pattern leaves the sleeves plain.) The overwhelming response was to add colorwork, so I added ten rounds from the yoke, with a focus on highlighting the blue-green color.

The math doesn’t quite work out for a clean section of colorwork at the sleeve ends, so I had to adjust it a bit by separating the blue green bits with two columns of orange in some places (intentionally unobservable in the above shot, hehe).

I love this sweater! It is a perfect fall piece, and the fair isle design makes me want to transform into a bird and float through the sky. The yarn is a bit more scratchy than I am accustomed to, but it did soften up quite a bit after a good soak in my favorite woolwash, which is the affordable and gently-but-perfectly scented Kookaburra Wash. Also, I must add that the sticky and slightly itchier Shetland wool does indeed work better for colorwork than the merino and merino blends I typically use. The fibers meld together beautifully! I do wish I had knit the sleeves longer, but I was one ball short on the orange color. I can just knit them longer on the next one, right?

To view Ysolda Teague’s Threipmuir pattern on Ravelry, click here.

To view my Ravelry page and notes, click here.

ABOUT AUTHOR Jamie Hoffman

Read more