Is there still time to knit up a cosy winter sweater?

Do you think you still have time to knit up a cosy winter sweater to wear before Spring? I know some of us will soon be thinking about knitting for the Spring and Summer season but I think there is time to knit up a winter sweater if you use a yarn just like Rowan Brushed Fleece, which happens to be one of my favourite yarns.

Brushed Fleece is an excellent choice for a quick winter knit as it’s a chunky-weight yarn and will knit up quickly on 6mm needles. The resulting sweater will be cosy, lightweight and easy to wear thanks to its blend of 30% alpaca, 65% merino wool and 5% polyamide. Brushed Fleece has a subtle fluffy halo and delicate marl colour effect that pairs wonderfully with its range of neutrals and richer colours….

I have knitted up several designs with Brushed Fleece since it was released by Rowan in 2014 and I keep returning to it again and again.

The first design I knitted was the cardigan called Esk. The original design was short in the body and arms but you can see that I changed the pattern making the arms and body longer. I think it suited me better that way.

: Trying on Esk the original design at Rowan Mill

: My longer arms and body version of Esk

Then I knitted the lovely Wintry in white.

Wintery Sweater by Rowan in Brushed Fleece

Esther wearing Wintry

Then I knitted one for my husband Neil called Trent.

Neil wearing Trent

Then I designed and knitted this pink snowflake jumper.

All this knitting using Brushed Fleece has left lots of different coloured unused balls. Counting them all up together I decided that I had enough for a multi-coloured jumper. I could have taken a simple design and knitted blocks of colour or stripes but I decided to try something a little more complicated.

During a Christmas shopping trip, I came across a jumper with a lace design but was also knitted with different coloured stripes. I immediately thought, “I could create a pattern for this and make it myself!” How many times have you said that to yourself? I know I always do. Anyway, that’s where I got the idea from and off I went.

After deciding on the type of lace stitch, working out the design and if I did have enough yarn here is what I have produced so far…

And here is a close-up of the lace stitch…

I think it’s a bit crazy and I will need to finish it to decide if it’s a disaster or a success but what else could I do with all these spare balls of yarn.

I already had plenty of hats….