Not Too Pricey Guthrie- Blogmas Day 3

Since we are starting the #WingITKAL in January, I’m feeling like I should cast on all of the patterns I want to knit, as is now, though it’s doubtful I will finish one by January 1. I’m still knitting my Floozy but I’ve discovered I need breaks from the silky, fingering weight yarn. Its slips along the needles so easily, I can’t seem to keep an even tension without gripping rather tightly. I doubt anyone else in the world has this issue other than me. To avoid wrist strain, I decided to alternate Floozy sessions with something 100% wool. This very mature decision also happens to coincide with the #BlameDunderKnitalong. I’ve been torn between the Nightshift Shawl, Juniper, Jelly Donuts, and Meg. So of course, I’m casting on Guthrie, by Caitlin Hunter.

I wanted the look of the Spincycle Dyed in the Wool skeins for the contrast color. They have that handspun look and the perfect variance of color, but they’re kind of pricey. Here’s the thing, if I’d just save a bit I could go all the way and get enough for an oversized, long sleeve, full length sweater. But I haven’t… so I can’t.

Instead, I’m combining only three skeins of Mississippi Marsala colorway with a less expensive solid sport weight yarn. I’m hoping it will be enough for a cropped version.

When digging through stash for a solid main color, my first thought was this Wool of the Andes Sport in Fedora.

But then I saw Patty’s Guthrie on Instagram, with a lighter solid background, and I fell in love with an inanimate object. I don’t have that much sport weight yarn and nothing that would contrast the Mississippi Marsala enough, so I checked out sale stuff on Craftsy (Or is it Bluprint, now?) and found a sweater’s worth of Cascade 220 Sport for about $15. It was totally worth it to me. I think they must be phasing out their Cascade stuff, because the prices are really low.

I’m still doing a more cropped version of this top, but I’ve seen lots of variations where knitters knit long sleeves and just carry the colorwork motif partway down the sleeve so there’ll be enough CC for the regular length body. Other’s skipped a section of the chart on the body to shorten the colorwork section so there’s a block of the main color toward the bottom. I guess this is to conserve their precious Spincycle yarn. Since the colorwork chart is worked in sections, there are lots of possible combinations and placement.

So here you see my swatch: It isn’t as dense a fabric as I thought it would be. Honestly, my Dyed in the Wool seems more like fingering to me, compared to the 220 Sport. But if it wears like my Sunset Highway, also a light fabric, that’s fine with me.