There are two stories to the development of the design for this sweater.

The first is as a follow-up to the Moody Blues sweater. I love the sweater and wear it often, but I had a few ‘what-if’ options on the grading and cable placement in that sweater that I wanted to continue to explore.

The second was about me trying to dye yarn, and not being very good at it. I had this amazingly soft alpaca yarn I tried to dye a deep burgundy. Having no experience dyeing, it ended up a sad grey-purple with some hot pink streaks (not in a cool way). I overdyed the yarn to deepen the colour. It still wasn’t quite what I wanted, so it sat in my stash until I found a great mohair colour that I could use with it to create a richer colour.

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Pensive Purple is a bottom-up oversized pullover with drop shoulders. It is knit in the round from the hem to the underarm. For Sizes XS, S, M, L, XL & 2X, stitches are cast on at the underarm: for Sizes 3X, 4X, & 5X, stitches are bound off at the underarm. This difference allows for the sleeves to start at a more consistent location on the arm across all sizes. The front and back yokes are worked flat separately, then seamed at the shoulders. The sleeves are picked up from the armhole edge and worked down to the cuff.

Sizing
Size XS (S, M, L, XL) (2X, 3X, 4X, 5X)
Finished Measurements (Bust)
36 (40, 44, 48, 52) (56.5, 60.5, 64.5, 68.5) inches, OR
91.5 (101.5, 111.5, 121.5, 131.5) (143, 153, 163, 173) cm
Recommended Ease 4 - 8” (10 - 20 cm)
The garment is shown in Size M with 8” (20 cm) ease at Bust, 3” (7.5 cm) ease at Hip.

Gauge
On US Size 7 (4.5 mm) needles, after blocking:
20 sts/ 28 rows in 4” (10 cm) in Stockinette using two strands.

Yarn
Knit Picks Eco Superwash Alpaca Sock, 70% superwash fine Highland alpaca, 30% nylon, fingering weight, 398 yards (364 meters) per 100g skein, OR
Any fingering weight yarn with similar properties that knits up to gauge.
Yards: 1271 (1391, 1489, 1610, 1718) (1919, 2064, 2198, 2283), OR
Meters: 1162 (1272, 1362, 1472, 1571) (1755, 1887, 2010, 2087)
Shown self-dyed to a purple shade.
AND
Garnstudio DROPS Kid-Silk, 75% goat mohair, 25% silk, lace weight, 230 yards (210 meters) per 25 gram ball, OR
Any laceweight mohair yarn with similar properties that knits up to gauge.
Yards: 1194 (1307, 1399, 1513, 1614) (1803, 1939, 2065, 2144), OR
Meters: 1092 (1195, 1279, 1383, 1476) (1649, 1773, 1888, 1961)
Shown in 16 Dark Purple.

The above yarns are used together throughout the garment.
If substituting with a single strand of worsted weight yarn, you will need approximately 10-15% more yarn than the single strand yardage listed for the fingering yarn.

Techniques Used
Alternating Cable Cast-on
Cables & Reading Cable Charts
Working in the round and flat
Mattress Stitch
Jeny’s Surprisingly stretchy Bind-off (Optional)