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Liwen

You can see the dilemma of living in Texas and being able to make things like this, right?  But today we had a cold spell, just in time for me to weave in the ends on my Liwen.  It’s a basic, cozy sweater made extra special by the thick and thin nature of the Araucania Liwen yarn.  
 

I’ve had these skeins for about a year, waiting for the right pattern.  I finally decided to work up another Oatmeal Pullover with regular raglan sleeves.

Something about working with thick and thin makes me nostalgic for the days when I first started knitting.  It seemed like such an impressive yarn to work with.  But it didn’t often suit the project.  This time I think it does.  It’s a classic raglan shape but has a little extra room for comfort.  

Oatmeal was my first Jane Richmond pattern to ever knit and I keep it in the back of my mind for any leftover bulky yarn I may have.  It doesn’t require too much yarn and is so fast to work up.  If you ever want to make a quick sweater as a gift, consider this one.  Just keep in mind that many knitters have found the armholes a bit tight when following the pattern, but using traditional raglan increases, like Spiderwomanknits, can fix that.   I have now made one each way and enjoy both.  However, this one was all about ease, so I went with deeper armholes.

I made a size 36″ using needle sizes 7 and 8.

My only mods were to knit the sleeves in the traditional raglan way of adding one “knit all” row between each increase row.  Very simple.

I also decreased 8 stitches (rather than none for size 36″) just before starting the 2 x 2 ribbing at the bottom of the body.  I have learned that I almost always have to decrease more for ribbed edges, maybe because I don’t knit my ribbing tightly enough.  I also went down a needle size for all ribbing in this pattern.  Since I’m making it with a little more ease in the body, I didn’t want the ribbing to sag.

I’m also considering adding a little length to the sleeves.  This yarn is very spring-y.  I really want full length, but they keep springing up.  

…and one million photos later… the end.  (More on my Ravelry and Flickr)

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15 Comments

  1. Thanks. It may be a little of both, Evelyn. It was a dark, rainy day yesterday and I had to open the aperture up wider and wider, then I edited a little. But, I'd say the top photo has the most light and is closest to the color in person.

  2. Love it so much! I'm with you on the thick and thin yarn – it's so awesome, but it's hard to find a pattern that works well with it. You matched pattern and yarn so well here! It looks so cozy!

  3. Thank you, Jennifer. It took quite a while for me to decide on a pattern for this yarn, but I ended up using one I'd knit before.

  4. love it. love the yarn with this pattern . i have made the oatmeal pullover too. i really like it. simple. quick. goes with everything (if you pick the right color). comfortable. can't beat any of that.

  5. You're right, Britt. It's an "old standby" kind of pattern that doesn't require expensive yarn or much time. 612 recorded projects on Ravelry can't lie.

  6. It looks so soft, delicious and schlubbily cozy, and your pictures are beautiful.

    P.S. thanks so much for your really nice comment. 🙂

  7. Love the yarn, the sweater and especially the fit. The 'textured yarn + simple shape = very wearable and interesting garment' formula is a winner.

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