I knit this piece back in 2019 with the intention to eventually share it with you as a Studio Project.

My memory though is now a bit hazy so my project notes are a little more brief than usual.

I do remember what prompted the cast on though – I think you know the feeling - the one where you just have to have it!

The Truss cardigan is definitely a modern classic with some superb details.

Find out how it knit up in Loch Lomond GOTS below.

Enjoy!

Andrea - Loom + Spindle

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STUDIO PROJECT | TRUSS

INTENTION

Knit the Truss cardigan and explore:

• Working with Loch Lomond Bio

• Working a garment flat and in pieces

DESIGN

The Truss cardigan pattern was designed by Melissa Wehrle and first published by Brooklyn Tweed in June 2015. It’s currently available to purchase as a digital download at Ravelry.com or BrooklynTweed.com.

The pattern is available in 8 sizes. I knit size 3 with a finished bust circumference of 113.5cm (44.75’’).

SKILLS

• Tubular cast on

• Knitting flat

• Increasing and decreasing

• Reading charts

• Working buttonholes

• Seaming

TOOLS

• 4mm (US 6) and 3.5mm (US 4) Brittany 35cm (14'') straight knitting needles

MATERIALS

WAITLIST

Quick View

Loch Lomond GOTS | Curry (01)

PROCESS

YARN SELECTION

• This one was easy; I love working with the light and lofty Loch Lomond GOTS. Gauge was a good fit too. A few projects that were already on Ravelry inspired the final ‘Curry’ colour selection.

CONSTRUCTION

• The garment is knit flat in pieces.

• The decreasing rib pattern was engaging, and the body of the cardigan flew off the needles.

  *I know working flat is a bit old school, but I like to alternate my knitting projects between working in the round and working flat. I hold my needles and flick the yarn slightly differently between the two styles, it seems to help reduce my knitting related aches and pains – especially when I’ve been over doing it.

FINISHING

• I blocked all pieces before seaming, taking care to match the seam lengths to the pattern. I did have to be a bit creative here while the pieces were wet to stretch everything out to the correct shape and size.

• I used a baste stitch to hold and align the pieces for seaming. This kept everything in place while using back stitch to seam the selvages.

• And I’ll fess up to one error in judgement. Rather than pick up stitches for the collar using circular needles I cast on the collar band as a separate piece. This got around the fact that I didn’t have circular needles on hand (and my dislike for picking up stitches). It did present problems when it came to buttonhole placement and sewing the band in place. But, with some careful counting and gauge measurements I think I got everything in the right place in the end.

INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

YARN

• Loch Lomond GOTS creates a wonderfully light fabric for a worsted weight yarn. Perfect for our Aussie climate. I love all the extra colours you get with the little tweedy flecks.

CONSTRUCTION + FINISHING

• Little elements like the tubular cast, the decreasing rib pattern and seaming really gave this piece a professional finish. I highly recommend blocking the individual pieces before attempting to seam the garment.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Truss cardigan is such a classic piece and relatively quick to knit at this gauge. What more can I say!

If you would you like to save this project for later add it to your Ravelry favourites HERE.

Knitting Truss in Loch Lomond GOTS?

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Size 1 - 6 Skeins

• Size 2 - 6 Skeins

• Size 3 – 7 Skeins

• Size 4 – 7 Skeins

• Size 5 – 8 Skeins

• Size 6 - 9 Skeins

• Size 7 - 10 Skeins

• Size 8 – 11 Skeins

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What is steeking?

If you hang around knitters long enough you may hear this term thrown around, often referred to with some trepidation.

But put simply, a steek is just the process of securing the cut edge of a knitted fabric. This allows the knitted fabric to be worked in the round and cut open without the ends unravelling.

I’ve been curious about this technique for a while and always watch with interest when my favourite YouTubers describe their experiences.

So, when Amirisu Issue 18 dropped in 2019 there was one piece in particular that caught my eye - the Tiger Lily shawl, a triangular colourwork shawl knit completely in the round and steeked!

Here’s my first-hand experience working a steeked shawl!

Enjoy!

Andrea - Loom & Spindle

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STUDIO PROJECT: Tiger Lily

INTENTION

Knit the Tiger Lily shawl and explore:

• Working with Loch Lomond GOTS

• Working a triangular shawl in the round using steeking stitches

DESIGN

The Tiger Lily shawl pattern was designed by Amirisu Magazine, first published in Amirisu Issue 18: Summer 2019. It’s currently available to purchase as a digital download at Ravelry.com.

SKILLS

Casting on
Knitting in the round
Decreasing stitches
Reading colourwork charts
Two colour colourwork
Steeking

TOOLS

4mm (US 6) and 4.5mm (US 7) circular needles.
I used Chiaogoo Spin Bamboo Interchangables.

MATERIALS

4 x Loch Lomond GOTS | Silver (06)
2 x Loch Lomond GOTS | Graphite (15)
1 x Loch Lomond GOTS | Schwarz (05)

*Tiger Lily yarn kits available HERE.

PROCESS

YARN SELECTION

• The designer uses two colours of similar hue for the main chart, swapping in a high contrast colour for the smaller charts B and C.

• Colourwork detail can occasionally be lost when adjacent colours are too similar. But I felt the designer had intentionally made this decision for Chart A , the similar hues creating a unique visual texture that adds to the rustic appeal of the piece.

• With the designer’s colour-play in mind I experimented with a few different palettes. I used Loch Lomond Bio as I felt this yarn would be well suited to recreating the look and feel of the original piece.

• I thought it would be fun to try a reverse palette of sorts and settled on a grey scale with two shades of light grey and a black for a dark contrast.

CONSTRUCTION

• Working from the widest side of the triangle to the apex, the shawl began with a cast-on edge of around 300 stitches. This sounded daunting but using a long tail cast-on and counting stitches in groups of 50 as I went, it didn’t require too much effort.

  I used a needle larger than the pattern required for the cast-on edge. This was so I could make the stitches firm and even and provide the required ease for the selvedge stitches.

• Following the pattern, the piece was joined in the round with steeking stitches added between beginning and end of row markers. This set-up is detailed in the pattern if you haven’t used this technique before.

• At the beginning and end of each row I caught the non-working yarn in the edge stitches to secure both yarns and avoid any long floats at these points.

• The colourwork charts are quite detailed and require some focus, particularly chart A with its wide repeat.

• I worked the shawl as written.

FINISHING

• I cut open the steek. Before unravelling the steek edges I blocked the shawl by giving it a short soak in a bath of cool water with a drop of wool wash. Pinning it out on a blocking matt, I gave attention to shaping the shawl and aligning the colourwork stitches.

• To create the fringing, I unravelled the steek stitches and ironed the ends to remove the kinks. I tied off the ends in groups of four, ironing them flat again to align anything that was askew. I carefully cut the fringing to a 2.5cm (1'') length.

Once dry the gauge measured at: 

• 22 stitches over 10cm (4'')

• 28 rows over 10cm (4'')

• Wingspan, 153cm (60’’)

• The finished shawl weighed in at 256g (9oz)

INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

YARN

• What can I say? I just love this toothy tweedy yarn. Loch Lomond GOTS is built for colourwork and it certainly didn’t disappoint in this piece.

• On soaking, the yarn bloomed to produce a light and woolly fabric.

• The vast amount of colourwork creates almost a double layer of fabric, the resulting shawl feeling like a warm hug around the shoulders.

CONSTRUCTION

• Using steeking stitches for a triangular shawl was quite unique but easy to set up and work.

• Decreasing on every row and seeing the project shrink as you reach the apex was certainly satisfying.

FINISHING

• Cutting open the steek to reveal the true shape and size of the shawl (and all my hard work) was certainly satisfying.

• I was delighted with the fringe. I’m glad I took the time to iron and uncurl the ends to get that perfect straight edge.

• Blocking revealed a slightly larger wingspan than the pattern intended. But all for the better as it sits perfectly on my shoulders without having to forever readjust it. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, this is a great design that worked up quickly.

I love the texture that the yarn and colourwork create.

Steeking is definitely a method I’ll incorporate into future projects.

I’ve been wearing this shawl all winter and heading into spring it won’t be leaving the wardrobe rotation any time soon!

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THANK YOU FOR READING!

Would you like to save this project for later?

Add it to your Ravelry favourites HERE.

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Upon its release last year we were instantly drawn to Andrea Mowry’s The Throwback - a top-down knit cardigan with cool retro-inspired colourwork detail around the yoke.

We thought the unique woolly texture and warming heathered shades of Loch Lomond GOTS would be a perfect match, so we got swatching. 

Translating and working Mowry’s design into a swatch was easy enough until we hit the three-colour colourwork... worked flat!

Though we had some initial hesitation, we were up for the challenge.

We’ve detailed our swatch notes below, including a little trick we found for controlling that third unruly yarn.

Enjoy!

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PROJECT

Swatching The Throwback by Andrea Mowry in Loch Lomond GOTS by BC Garn

AIM

To explore:

• The fabric’s hand-feel at the resulting gauge

• The suitability of Loch Lomond GOTS for colourwork, and

• A method for working three-colour colourwork

SKILLS

• Casting on

• Casting off

• Knitting flat

• Reading charts for colourwork

• Familiarity with different knitting styles:

  • Continental (yarn held in left hand)

  • English (yarn held in right hand)

TOOLS

• 4 mm (US 6) circular needles (we used Chiaogoo Spin Bamboo Interchangeables)

MATERIALS

WAITLIST

Colour A, Moss

WAITLIST

Colour B, Beige

WAITLIST

Colour C, Curry

WAITLIST

Colour D, Fire Red

PATTERN

The swatch is for The Throwback sweater pattern published by Andrea Mowry of Drea Renee Knits. This pattern is available for purchase on Ravelry or at dreareneeknits.com.

The pattern provides a gauge of 18.5 stitches and 26 rows over 10cm (4'').

PROCESS

THE DESIGN

Casting on 38 stitches, we started with a base of 4x4 rib running into stocking stitch to test Loch Lomond GOTS in the knitted fabric.

The colourwork chart was incorporated to explore the relationship between the yoke detail and chosen colour palette.

THE SWATCH

We tried a few different needle sizes on some pre-swatch swatches. We found a satisfactory fabric was obtained on 4mm (US 6) needles, with a resulting 5 stitches per inch pre-blocking.

For the colourwork component we began by working the two-colour sections with one yarn held in each hand and catching the floats behind the work at regular intervals.

Having had some experience working the yarn from both the left and right hands, this method was quite comfortable for us and we had no trouble working either the knit or purl sides of the fabric.

THE THREE-COLOUR SECTION

Applying our colourwork method to the three-colour sections proved more challenging.

When working with a third yarn (in either hand) we found it difficult to maintain tension, catch floats evenly across the back (particularly on the purl side) and avoid disastrous tangles between the three strands.

After a few attempts at using various stranding techniques and re-organising our yarns we settled on a method that simply removed the problem!

Our solution… working only two colours across the row and slipping the stitch that required the third colour. The row was then worked again, slipping the previously worked stitches and only knitting the stitches required to complete the three-colour sequence.

This simplified working the purl-side, as the colour pattern was already established from working the knit-side and could simply be repeated – purling with two colours across the row, then working the row again with the third.

Given only six rows of the chart are worked in three-colours we found this to be a quick and easy solution.

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FINISHING

The swatch was soaked in a bath of cool water for around 5 minutes, the excess water pressed out using a towel. The swatch was pinned out on a blocking matt, attention given to aligning the stitches and smoothing out the colourwork.

The final measurements:

• Overall dimensions, 18cm x 20cm (7'' x 8'')

• Gauge, 20 stitches and 24 rows over 10cm (4'')

INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

GAUGE

Though we didn’t quite reach the pattern’s gauge, our measurements indicate that this yarn would be a viable option for The Throwback. A quick calculation tells us that we would only need to go up one size to accommodate the variance.

Here’s what we did (using inches for simplicity):

Our size - Size 3, Bust 43''
Our gauge - 5 stitches over 1''

Number of stitches required for our size:

43 (bust size) * 5 (our gauge) = 215 stitches (around the bust)

At Size 3 (bust 43'') and the pattern gauge of 4.6 stitches over 1'', we would have too few stitches:

43 (bust size) * 4.6 (pattern gauge) = 198 stitches (around the bust)

198 (no. stitches at Size 3) / 5 (our gauge) = 39.6'' Bust

At Size 4 (bust 47'') and a pattern gauge of 4.6 stitches over 1'', we get a close match:

47 (bust size) * 4.6 (pattern gauge) = 216 stitches (around the bust)

216 (no. stitches at Size 4) / 5 (our gauge) = 43.2''

Therefore, our corresponding size with the required stitch count is Size 4!

FABRIC

Loch Lomond GOTS bloomed to produce a smooth and homogenous fabric with well-defined colourwork detail.

The woolly texture and tweedy appearance make for a wonderfully rustic hand-feel that is both light and warm to the touch.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This little swatch was an experiment that quickly became a great lesson in working three-colour colourwork.

The colourwork method we used was particularly suited to this project given the piece is worked flat with the three colour sections only occurring over six rows.

Ultimately, giving ourselves the space to explore and experiment via swatching took away any initial apprehension we had and gave us the confidence to tackle the larger project in the future.

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THANK YOU FOR READING!

Would you like to save this swatch for later?

Add this swatch to your Ravelry favourites HERE.

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Welcome Loch Lomond GOTS

by BC Garn

We’re proud to introduce the latest addition to the Loom & Spindle Yarn + Fibre range - Loch Lomond GOTS by BC Garn. A charming 100% wool, tweed style yarn with Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification.

Minimally processed, this woollen spun yarn has lightness and loft making it soft, springy and warm.

Available in a range of delicately heathered shades made possible by ‘dyeing in the wool’, where the wool fibres are dyed prior to spinning, bringing life to the palette.

With its GOTS certification, this yarn meets strict ecological and social criteria to ensure the entire supply chain meets the leading worldwide standard for organic textile production.

All in which make this yarn perfectly suited to a range of rustic and warming handknits and woven pieces that will see you through the coldest days.

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Colourways Available

THE YARN

FIBRE CONTENT - 100% Wool
YARN WEIGHT EQUIVALENT - Aran / 10 ply
NET WEIGHT - 50g (1.75oz) per skein
APPROX. YARDAGE - 150m (164yd)
CONSTRUCTION - Woollen spun, 2 plies, light twist
FINISH - Water-soluble spinning oil applied during milling
ORIGIN - Milled in Turkey
CARE - Cold hand wash

GAUGE SUGGESTIONS

The gauge information below can be used as guidance when planning your projects. We always recommend that you swatch to determine a configuration that results in the ideal fabric and hand feel for your project.

KNITTING

18 stitches over 10cm, using 4-5mm needles (4 ½ stitches per inch, US size 6-8 needles)

CROCHET

5-6mm hook (US size H-8 to I-9 hook)

WEAVING FOR YARDAGE

32 ends / 10cm (8 epi)
40 ends / 10cm (10 epi)

TAPESTRY WEAVING (WEFT FACED WEAVES)

16 ends / 10cm (4 epi)

FELTING

Work the piece 10% to 20% larger than the intended size. It’s highly recommended that a test swatch be made applying your intended finishing technique to assess the variables of the fabric.

WORKING THE YARN

Loch Lomond GOTS is suitable for most fibre crafts, including knitting, crochet, tapestry and weaving for yardage. You’ll find gauge suggestions for various crafts below. For project ideas you may like to check out our suggestions on RAVELRY.

FINISHING

The true texture and appearance of the yarn remains hidden until a final wash fluffs and softens the fibres. Prepare a bath of tepid water and if desired add a few drops of mild detergent or wool wash. Immerse the finished piece and soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Lift the piece from the water and allow to drain. Gently remove excess water by pressing the fabric between layers of a dry towel. Lay flat to dry.

ABOUT GOTS CERTIFICATION

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is the leading textile processing standard for organic fibres. The aim is to define and maintain a internationally recognized requirement to ensure the organic status of textiles, from harvesting of the raw materials through to environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing, in order to provide credible assurance to the end consumer.

To learn more about the standard and certification process please visit www.global-standard.org

ABOUT BC GARN

BC Garn is a family run business based in Germany. They are known for their selection of natural fibres and range of colour palettes. They produce a collection of GOTS certified yarns.

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