If you’ve followed my social media lately you know I’ve been talking about the wonders of thinner weight yarns. Now, let me be clear on one thing, I am not a lace knitter, I just don’t have the patience in me to complete those amazingly beautiful but oh so stunning projects knitted with very fine yarn on very thin needles. But I have developed, let’s say something close to an obsession coming to lace weight yarns the last couple of years. Why? You say, because they open up to an endless world of possibilities!

Let me give you my main two reasons for this obsession of mine. Number one is, by combining different fibres with two or more strands held together you can add a bit of luxury to a garment, still without completely blowing the budget. I for one can’t afford a large project knitted solely in luxurious fibre, but I can allow myself to add a little something now and again. My second reason is that by combining different fibres you can get a structure, feel and depth of colour that is completely unique for your project! I can’t stress this enough, have fun and play around with your yarns, put them together and see what you come up with, there are no rules! Just remember that when caring for your finished project you have to take the ‘weakest’ fibre into consideration, and that’s about it.

Ever since I noticed this design in the latest Making Magazine, the Milkweed Pullover, I’ve wanted to make one for myself. The pattern calls for a 4ply linen yarn worked on 4 mm needles, so it will create quite an open stitch, also the original yarn used seems quite plump. I’ve had this idea for a while, and when finding this design I realised it was just perfect for what I had in mind.⁠ The only problem was, I had two alternatives, and I couldn’t quite make up my mind about which one to go for. I wanted to combine the Växbo Lin linen that we have in the shop with something else, and I’d been dreaming over two options, looking at the Milkweed both alternatives would give me the requested gauge and both alternatives will heighten the look of the linen, but in quite different ways. My alternatives were to pair the linen with either the fluffy Fyberspates Cumulus alpaca/silk blend or Hey Mama Wolf Ahimsa No. 10 pure silk.

A couple of days ago I shared my dilemma with our social media following, and the response was awesome, so many of you decided to share with me your thoughts on which to go for. I am completely in love with both and this is why I had completely forgotten to consider which use I was planning for the pullover, one will be much warmer than the other. I made my decision partly because someone mentioning whether or not this was meant to be a summer garment, and partly because while discussing my options with you I came across another design which will be absolutely stunning in the combo I chose not to go with in the end – more on that particular design in a later blog post…

I am going with the linen combined with the silk, and I am so excited!!! I’ve nearly finished the yoke, and the result is so lush and beautiful I’m over the moon with it. I wish there was a way for you to feel this through the picture! The Stockinette Stitch is so crisp and silky smooth when running my fingers over it. Neither does the picture translate the glimmer added by the silk, I just love the marled effect of the two colours I decided on, providing that little touch of luxury that I mentioned earlier. I really can’t wait until I’m able to wear this awesomeness! Are you with me?

Just as I started my project it struck me, it’s been ages since we did a knit-a-long here at Knit with attitude, and given the circumstances with most of us separated from each other, I thought it would be great fun doing a project together again. If you’d like to join me, I’ve just put a small discount into our online shop on the Växbo Lin linen and the Hey Mama Wolf Ahimsa No. 10 pure silk which you can enjoy should you decide to combine these two doing a Milkweed of your own. Pop the code KWADOESMILKWEED into your shopping cart to activate the discount, which is valid until August 15th.

The Milkweed Pullover is graded into 11 sizes, and I’ve done some calculations for you to make it easier to decide on how many hanks you need according to your finished garment bust size (you want 5 – 10 cm positive ease to your actual measurements):
85 cm – 3 hanks Växbo Lin, 2 hanks Ahimsa No.10
92 cm – 3 hanks Växbo Lin, 3 hanks Ahimsa No.10
99,5 cm – 3 hanks Växbo Lin, 3 hanks Ahimsa No.10
107.5 cm – 3 hanks Växbo Lin, 3 hanks Ahimsa No.10
114.5 cm – 4 hanks Växbo Lin, 3 hanks Ahimsa No.10
122 cm – 4 hanks Växbo Lin, 3 hanks Ahimsa No.10
129.5 cm – 4 hanks Växbo Lin, 3 hanks Ahimsa No.10
136.5 cm – 4 hanks Växbo Lin, 4 hanks Ahimsa No.10
144 cm – 5 hanks Växbo Lin, 4 hanks Ahimsa No.10
152 cm – 5 hanks Växbo Lin, 4 hanks Ahimsa No.10
159 cm – 5 hanks Växbo Lin, 4 hanks Ahimsa No.10

For my Milkweed I chose the Pale Bleached in linen and Pink Frost in the silk. Seeing how these two yarns marl together I would absolutely love to see a version where the silk thread moves from one colour to another one in combination with one linen colour, but I didn’t get that far when planning my own colour combo. However, to help get your creative juices flowing – these are the colour combos I was drooling over when planning my Milkweed.

From the top, linen first and then silk:
Cerise and Wish You Were Here
Light Blue and Pale Blue Eyes
Silver Grey and The Sky Was All Violet
Olive Green and It Was All Yellow
Graphite and Silver Lining

I can’t wait to see your versions! Please post yours on Instagram using the hashtag #kwadoesmilkweed so I can find them, I would absolutely love to see both work in progress and finished ones. And why not, by the end of the KAL shall we say end of August, I’ll randomly draw a couple of winners who will receive a joyful goodie bag from Knit with attitude (and you know my goodie bags are ace)!