Union of mohair and cotton.

This heavenly soft sweater is knitted double stranded. One strand is Kid Mohair with Silk and the other strand is Cotton. This combination works surprisingly well. Warm and soft mohair makes the fabric silky and voluminous. Cold and hard cotton compliments mohair perfectly. It makes the fabric solid and it holds the shape of the garment well. Result is luxurious.

I used mohair with cotton in some designs already few years ago. Those designs were published by Finnish knitwear magazines. This combination works well in many different stitch patters. This time I wanted to knit a basic sweater in stockinette stitch, with some extra details added. This sweater got name Aamu. Aamu is Morning in Finnish. It is a perfect name for this. I will tell you why.

Aamu-sweater

I live in a small village called Fiskars. The old wooden house is placed on top of a hill. The light of the dawn is upmost the best at my home. The winter mornings in Finland can be freezing cold. When the cool air meets the warmth of the rising sun, you often find me sitting on the window bench, enjoying the view of the frosty landscape. Aamu-sweater is inspired by these moments. It is the union of cold and warm, that represents this feeling of freedom and peace.

How to knit double stranded?

Almost any yarns can be combined in one knitwork. I am very experimental with this. I have even combined wool with laine. Double stranded knitting is not difficult. Yet, there are few things you should know. Take these 3 things into account, when you knit double stranded.

1. Keep both yarns on their own balls. Never wind them into one ball. That will cause you trouble later. Different yarns stretch differently. Sooner or later the other strand will have extra length that makes a loop in your yarn. Knots and mess will follow. Just take two different strands of yarn and align them. Then use them as one strand when you knit. But keep the balls separate.
2. Knit a swatch before you start and measure your gauge. This is always important to do and with double stranded knitting even more so. Change to larger or smaller needles until you have the right gauge. The needle size instructions of the separate yarns have no meaning here. The only way to find the right needle size is to test! Do it! You do not want to knit a sweater halfway only to find out that the size is wrong…
3. Take two different colours. If both strands have the same colour, the combination of two different materials will not stand out. Two different colours make the shade beautifully mixed. Even a slight difference in the shades adds brilliance in the final colour.

Raglan sleeve sweater knitted double stranded

Aamu is a raglan sleeve sweater knitted double stranded. One strand is mohair and the other is cotton. I used these yarns: Teetee Hilla and Teetee Lumi. Teetee Lumi will not be manufactured any longer. Therefore I recommend another yarn with the same qualities. This is Austermann Kid Silk mohair. If you use some other cotton than I used, please choose a soft yarn quality that has the same (or almost the same) gauge and yardage as Teetee Hilla. You can also use wool instead of cotton.

If you prefer using one yarn instead, I recommend DK weight yarn knitted with 4,5 mm (US 7) needles. Brushed alpaca or alpaca blends are good. Niitty-sweater is knitted with alpaca blend. This pattern is almost the same as Aamu, only short sleeve version. Have a look here how knitting with one yarn looks.

Seamless sweater knitted top down

Aamu-sweater is worked seamlessly and in the round from the top down. The sleeves and the body are separated and worked top to bottom. The sleeves are knitted in the round as well. You can Magic Loop the sleeves if you are familiar with the technique. But knitting with double pointed needles works also perfectly well.

This basic sweater has special raglan sleeve set and diagonal details on sides of the body. Extra rows are added to back to shape the neckline. The sweater features decorative lace pattern along the sleeves. More information about knitting seamless you find here.

Knitting pattern raglan sleeve sweater

The knitting pattern of Aamu-sweater is now released and for sale on my Ravelry-store Piia Maria Designs. If you have questions about the pattern or materials, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I will answer you as soon as possible.

Wish you Happy New Year with lots of knitting.

Piia Maria

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