In the 20+ years I’ve been knitting, I’ve generally steered clear of anything that could be considered a novelty yarn. Then I touched some Alpaca boucle yarn, and knew I had to make something with it. Its’ softness was just irresistible.

The first version of this sweater I made with two strands of fingering weight yarn, one an alpaca boucle and the other a cashmere blend (Blue Sample). The yarn blending does make reading the stitches easier, but the sweater is dense and warm. The second sample is knit in one strand of aran alpaca boucle, which makes for a very light almost weightless sweater (Cream sample).

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Fuzzy Cloud is knit from the top down. The fronts and backs are worked separately to the underarm, then joined together through the body. The sleeves and cowl are picked up afterward and worked to their desired length. The pattern gives options for the garter stitch edging depending on your preference. The hems and collar can either be worked back and forth and seamed to avoid purling, or they can be worked in the round for a completely seamless sweater.

The pattern is kept simple so that working with boucle isn’t too difficult, but has enough detail to add some interest if using another yarn. The pattern is designed with generous ease through the body, and regular fit sleeves.  The sweater is shown in size Medium, with 12” ease at the bust. 

Sizing
Size XS (S, M, L) (XL, 2X, 3X), with finished Bust measurements of
40 (44.25, 48, 52.25) (56.5, 61.25, 66) inches OR
101.5 (112.5, 122, 132.5) (143.5, 155.5, 167) cm

Gauge
17 sts/ 25 rows in 4” (10cm) in Stockinette worked flat and in the round on US Size 7 (4.5 mm) needles.

Yarn
Drops Alpaca Boucle, Aran weight, 80% Alpaca, 15% Wool, 5% Nylon, 153 yards (140 meters) per 50 gram ball, OR

1 strand each of:
Knit Picks Alpaca Merino Boucle Bare, Fingering weight, 82% Alpaca, 13% Wool, 5% Nylon, 328 yards (300 meters) per 100 gram hank, AND
Knit Picks Capretta Superwash, Fingering weight, 80% Merino wool, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon, 230 yards (210 meters) per 50 gram ball.
Knit Picks Alpaca Merino Boucle has been renamed, and is now available in colours as Bubbly Boucle.

Yds: 950 (1150, 1300, 1450) (1600, 1770, 1950) yards
Meters: 865 (1055, 1190, 1330) (1465, 1620, 1780) meters

The above yardage will apply to each yarn if using two strands of Fingering weight wool rather than one strand of Aran weight.

Techniques Used
Long Tail Cast on
Thumb Cast on
Knitting and Purling into the front and back of a stitch (Increases)
Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off
Mattress Stitch - only if working Garter Stitch edging flat

A special thank you to my testers who helped make this possible!