The Shepherdess explores the many possibilities of textured and cabled knitting with unspun yarn, as well as trying different unusual yarn combinations

It is not unusual to see unspun yarn worked together with mohair or other long-haired yarns. This sweater, however, takes Nutiden Yarn onto a whole different route. The garment is worked at a rather generous gauge, with two strands of unspun yarn held together with one thread of lace-weight rustic yarn. For my sample, I used Einband, a 100% Icelandic wool yarn. My guess is that it would also work exceptionally well with one strand of lace-weight alpaca (Isager Alpaca 1 comes to mind).

The sweater is worked top-down. The back is cast-on using a provisional cast-on method and worked flat until the underarm. Then, the fronts are cast on, shoulder by shoulder, and worked flat until joined at the neckline. The front and back are then joined at the underarm and the garment is worked seamlessly in the round to the hem. Stitches are picked up at the armhole and worked top-down seamlessly in the round to the cuff. All seams are visible and contribute to the rough, mori-style look of the sweater. Options for a finished neckband and cuffs are also offered in the pattern.

I wanted to create a raw pattern. As rough as it could be. That’s why I decided to omit short rows for the back, why I chose to make all seams visible and leave the body hem unfinished. This contradicts everything I’ve learned in my job as a knitting designer, but I also believe it to be a very liberating process. I invite you to modify, add and detract details, finishes, and shaping to this pattern to your own liking.

YARN
A double thread of Nutiden Yarn by Höner och Eir (100% Unspun Wool, 100 gr per plate)
Held together with
Lopi Einband by Istex (100% Icelandic Wool, 225m / 50 g)

280 (290, 300, 310)( 320, 340, 360)(370, 380, 400) gr of Nutiden Yarn
200 (210, 220 , 230) (240, 260, 280)(300, 310, 320) grams of Einband yarn.

needles
— 4.5 mm circular needle, cable length 80 cm / 32” for the body and sleeves (or needle size to obtain gauge).
— 4 mm for hem, neckband and cuff

GAUGE
18 sts x 24 rounds = 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4” in Farrow Rib stitch on larger needle after blocking.