Dulwich

February 02, 2016









Here is Dulwich by Martin Storey from his Easy DK Knits book from the last fall/winter season.  First, I love that book as there are quite a few more designs I'd like to knit from it.   This pattern was meant to be knit in either Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK or Rowan Super Fine Merino DK, both lovely yarns, but I wanted to try the new Alpaca Merino DK so made a switch.  The Alpaca Merino is fantastic; it's very easy to knit and creates a fabric that has a fine oatmeal texture and weightless loft, plus it's as soft as a puppy's tummy.  I think if anyone has wool issues, maybe this would be worth a try.  The colors all have little color variations, and in this purple I see a tiny bit of violet and blue--it's truly gorgeous.  Alpaca Merino DK has a chainette construction which gives it the lightweight loft, but while knitting, may cause you to get a snag, but this can be avoided.  When I knit a chainette yarn rather than a typical plied/twisted yarn, I find I have to alter, ever so slightly, the way I dig into the stitch.  It's a very minuscule change really, but I find I do exaggerate my motion ever so slightly and then I don't have any problem with snags.  Play around with your motion and play around with your needles too, and while I don't remember this as being needle fussy, I did use an Addi lace with the super smooth pointy tip.  Some yarns are worth a tiny bit of trial and error, and this is one that is worth it.  My Alpaca Merino sweater ended up being a very easy touch-knit project.  I've worn this perhaps a half dozen times and I'm just noticing some pilling under the sleeves.  Not bad!  I don't mind moderate pilling at all, and honestly, expect it in all sweaters, hand-knitted or store-bought because it's just the nature of the product.  I hate excessive pilling, but if I have to groom a sweater every several wears or so, I don't mind.  I use a Gleener.  It's the best de-piller on the market and you can imagine I've tried them all.

As for the pattern, it's quite easy and very well-written and it's from my buddy, Martin.  It's knit in two pieces then sewn together at the shoulders.  Next, stitches are picked up at the arms and ribbing is knit down to the wrist, or shorter, depending on long you want your sleeve.  I am loving the bat-wing look and now have 3 sweaters in that style, so perhaps that's enough for now. :)

If you wanted to make Dulwich I have a few suggestions about getting the bat-wing style right.  These sweaters can be long and loose, or long and slim, some with waists and some without.  I love them all.  But if you make one that has waist ribbing like this, the blouse should begin and the ribbing should end at the natural waist, or no more than an inch below.  If not, you take the risk of looking like a big blob.  So, if you want to add length to this sweater, lengthen the waist ribbing by a little or a lot, but make sure to have the ribbing stop at the waist and do not add the length to the blousy part.  This style can be flattering and sexy, but when it's not, it's probably because the blouse has gone down too far below the waist.

The second recommendation is yarn:  While any DK weight that gets proper gauge would work, I recommend a soft yarn with moderate drape.  There is too much fabric to have even the slightest amount of stiffness.  Besides the recommended yarn, this would be gorgeous in Rowan Baby Merino Silk DK (I've got some in my stash but do I need a 4th?)  Light bulb moment: this would be fantastic knit with Kidsilk Haze knit double!  Heaven!  For a summer Dulwich I would knit the sleeve ribbing a few inches shorter to make a 3/4 length sleeve and use one of the two new summer yarns I've been playing with, either Summerlite DK (100% Giza cotton) or Softyak DK (cotton/yak/nylon); both are exceptionally soft with the right amount of drape.  It's so important to pair a pattern with the right yarn, don't you agree?

Well, that's it for now.  I talked about a lot of products in this post and below I have all the links for ya!

To make a comment, click here.

Easy DK Knits by Martin Storey
Queue Dulwich here.


All of the above can be purchased at your local Rowan Stockist,
or online at:


For de-pilling, try the Gleener, it's the best.

Until next time, happy knitting!


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9 Comments

  1. Thanks for the tips about knitting batwing sweaters. I'm living in Japan right now and they are very popular here so many consider knitting one. Love your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your Dulwich is divine as is the Alpaca Merino DK. It is a yarn that I have totally fallen for. Although I've only knit a couple of small accessories with it so far from Winterscapes a sweater is definitely in the queue. I just love all the subtle colour variations which run through all the colours giving the yarn such a deep three dimensional quality. The icing on the cake for me is that the colours are named after places in and around where I grew up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love your description of the yarn. I love the color names too! I just looked at the map and it looks like such a beautiful place. England is so beautiful. One of my friends lives in Nottingham and she was just tickled when she saw the color names!

      Delete
  3. Good tips and it looks great on you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous, love, love it!!! That color is wonderful, looks great on you too!!!! Margie

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful! You did an amazing job on this sweater. It's fits beautifully on you!

    Take care,
    Leslie

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Kristen. Question for u. I am finishing up Gingersnap for my new grandson expected in June. In the instructions for steam blocking what does PPW mean?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PWW is short for Pure Wool Worsted! I cannot wait to see your Gingersnap. You are lucky you have expect a new grandson. Jealous.

      Delete

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