Like most of you know, I’m a lazy person.. Well, what I mean is that I like to get as far as I can by the least amount of effort. You lovely people, I’m not going to be knitting my kids amazing, super cute sweaters if I can’t just throw them in the washer.. Enter Stone Washed.
There’s a reason that this post is an actual tribute to the Scheepjes Stone Washed line. This stuff makes me so happy. I used to think that I’d never be able to knit with cotton yarns. Not because I’m a haughty snob, but because I have some manufacturing issues, and to put it nicely, my wrists are too fragile for my structure. I have to be very careful not to put too much of a strain on them because I’m very likely to end up with carpal tunnen (like nearly everyone in my family….)
So why can I knit using Stone Washed? because the yarn has been knitted, so the structure of the yarn is not how other yarns are spun and plied, but chained. The colour consist of acrylic fluff that’s blown in during the chaining process. This type of yarn is very stretchy, regardless of the material in contains, so it knits like a dream. It’s also great for crochet, but since this yarn is often used in crochet projects you already know this 😀
In September 2018 I went on vacation (I’m still behind on the blogging thing), and I took some nice projects with me. One of which is the Brochan Sweater. This project is SO much fun, but it’s also very smart! Once your kid has nearly grown out of it, you can cut the seams on the hem and fold them back to make the sweater (and sleeves) longer! This way the sweater will last even longer 🙂
I used 4 balls of Scheepjes Stone Washed in 831 in colorway Axinite and 1 ball of Scheepjes River Washed 958 in colorway Tiber. I knit using 4mm/ US6 needles and the sweater is nice and soft, but not rigid. The more it’s used and washed, the softer and warmer it becomes as the fluff will bloom and cover the holes in the sweater, making it nice and warm.
Since the yarn mostly consists of cotton it will still be airy so it’s ideal for toddlers and kids. I have one of those “jumping up and down in the mud” type of kids, so I wash this thing at least 2-3 times a week, and this means I also dunk it in the dryer. Yep. I said it. Now here’s a little warning: the label on the yarn doesn’t actually say you should throw it in the dryer, but I’m selling it so I need to know how it behaves. So far my reports: Stone Washed works beautifully in the dryer. It does get a bit more fluffy, but I have a Fluff Remover machine and have so far sheared my sweater once or twice and it’s like new 🙂
I’m really happy with the way the pattern and yarn came together. I love the pattern, the not patterned parts, the neckline and the beautiful details.
I personally chose not to add a string, because my kid is still very young and I was afraid he’d get it all tangled around his neck. The pattern is also written for larger sizes, so you might choose to add a string if your kid is older.
Looking at these pictures its so funny to see how much he’s grown already. When I was taking the pictures it was actually a bit too big for him, but now it fits perfectly 🙂
I’m also extremely lucky because he really likes to pose for pictures, he just can’t keep a straight face when he’s trying to look ‘cool’ (angry).
Standing still is also not something that comes naturally to toddlers. It might not be very visible, but you can see the hem line at the bottom and at the sleeves. When you open up the seam and fold the hem backwards you’ve added another 2-3cm, and the sweater can be worn for one more season this way.
So now we’ve learned that being lazy can have its benefits. Knit once, use multiple seasons. This technique is something I’ll be using for all kids sweaters from now on 🙂 It’s so nifty!
This was my tribute to the Stone Washed. I used a total of 5 balls of yarn (not including the pattern) the cost of this project is 17,50 euros and you end up with a sweater that will last 2-3 seasons, which can be worn between fall and spring. If you live in a colder climate you’ll probably be able to put it on your kid during the colder moments of summer as well 🙂
