I have accepted the NaKniSweMo 2015 Challenge. This month, I will be knitting Denali by Norah Gaughan. It’s a sweater full of lovely, swirly cables.
NaKniSweMo stands for National Knit a Sweater Month, inspired by NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to knit a sweater of 50,000 stitches (or more) in a month. This sweater should do it, no problem.
I am knitting this sweater inStudio Donegal Soft Donegal in the Turquoise colorway.
My husband picked both the pattern and the color. Husbands who like color and texture are to be cherished, don’t you think?
Pregame report: Prior to November 1, I got to work swatching. Studio Donegal Soft Donegal is a bit heavier than Brooklyn Tweed (the yarn in the pattern). I knitted two different swatches of the cable section and ended up getting gauge by going down two needle sizes to US 5.
https://instagram.com/p/9i4AMgCJBZ/?taken-by=caityrosey81
Day 1: I started with the sleeves. The goal is to be virtuous and get the boring bit done first. I used US 4 for the cuff and US 6 for the main sleeve. I was going to use Ysolda Teague’s long tail tubular cast on, but I tried the rib cable cast on the pattern recommends and found I liked how it looked. So I’m using rib cable cast on after all.
https://instagram.com/p/9j_5mwiJDU/?taken-by=caityrosey81
What are you knitting for #NaKniSweMo? It’s not too late to join in.
All She Wants To Do Is Knit 
I’ve just been looking around at patterns for knitting a summer top or t-shirt of some kind. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but I’m a little intimidated as the biggest thing I’ve knitted so far is a very long and voluminous scarf! I’m also concerned that anything I knit will be too hot for me to actually wear in summer, as here in Australia a large portion of summer tends to hover around 30 degrees C! Maybe I will have to designate November as ‘Bec’s knit-a-top month’!
I need to start! I stumbled across this November, knitting meme recently and thought how perfect it was to use as an excuse to cast on something for STITCHES West as it was a little warm this past February so a new shawl or beanie wouldn’t really work.
Sometimes motivational things like this are so helpful. And energizing.
Oh, yes he should be cherished. I don’t think I could knit a swatter for my husband who likes ease in his clothes and wears XL. Knitting the body would kill me. This looks like a terrific pattern.
So far so good. The sleeves are going well.
Fabulous colour and I love the cables. That will be one awesome jumper!
Thanks. After knitting swatches one thing I was surprised by was how easy these big cables are. They look like they would be difficult. But they’re not. Cables can be such a fake out sometimes.
Makes up for when things turn out to be trickier than you expect!
I’m knitting the chain link tunic from Brooklyn tweed. I hope I can start it tomorrow. Good luck with your sweater.
That’s a handsome sweater. Very cool shape. Architectural and splendid. Have fun.
Great choice, that’s going to be a very fun knit 🙂 As for me, my heart was set on the pattern “Laurie”, using some Classic Elite Yarn Soft Linen I had in stash. I should be casting on in the next couple days, I’m so excited!
Definitely. It coincides with Wovember as well, so that’s two birds with one stone!
What an awesome sweater! I’m a bit jealous!
The good news is, it’s a small step from jealousy to buying yarn and knitting one of your own. Would your SO wear it?
Haha he definitely would not. He is quite picky about his knitwear, and vary rarely cold.
Oh that color! Yes, husbands who like color ARE to be cherished. Having your hands in that color for a whole month will be a joy!
That’s a beautiful pattern and a lovely color. I knit sweaters for my son, and he loves bright colors and cables and such. He has one Aran sweater in bright red and a Gansey in Kelly green and another Gansey in old gold. I like to knit cabled sweaters at a pretty firm gauge and normally use a US#5 or #6 if I’m knitting with worsted or Aran weight yarn. Hooray for gauge swatches!