Projects
The Spectra Sweater
Greetings, friends! This week, we are taking you on a tour of the clever projects Cecelia Campochiaro designed for MDK Field Guide No. 19: Marls. Next stop on the hop-on, hop-off bus: the Spectra Sweater.
When the team was brainstorming the projects for Field Guide No. 19, the thought kept recurring: There had to be a sweater.
Marling creates sophisticated textured fabrics, even in plain stockinette. The love that fashion designers have for these fabrics is evidenced by the gobsmacking marled sweaters that pop up on the runway each season.
Knitters love sweaters, and when knitters get to know marling, they are going to adore marling. So, in conclusion, and we rest our case: Field Guide No. 19 had to have a marled sweater.
Cecelia was up for it.
Cecelia was all in.
Cecelia was born ready.
And what a sweater she made! The Spectra Sweater (Ravelry link) is an adventure for our needles. Its marled stripes are vertical, because the sweater is knit side to side. The front and back each start with a cast-on in the center, which is then worked to the cuff, in marled stripes. To work the other half, stitches are picked up in the cast-on and then worked to the opposite cuff. The front and back are then joined with a 3-needle bind-off along the shoulder and sleeve edges. Nifty!
The shape is boxy, with snug sleeves. (Our favorite fit, what a coincidence!) We’re knitting our own Spectras with lots of ease, for that flowy silhouette we adore.
Test knitter Josh Moll knocked her Spectra sweater out of the parK. the fit, the styling, the colors—it’s so inspiring. Thank you, Josh!
One of the best (and most challenging!) parts of knitting the Spectra Sweater is picking 4 colors from the beautiful palette of Isager’s Tvinni. There are so many ways to go, and all of them are beautiful.
Tvinni (which is pronounced “tweenie,” approximately) is one of the great yarns—fine, light merino lambswool in an airy fingering weight. Even when held double, Tvinni knits up into a featherweight fabric. We first encountered Marianne Isager’s yarns in her gorgeous Tokyo Shawl. It was love at first knit, and we’re thrilled that Cecelia chose an Isager yarn for the Spectra Sweater.
This sweater is inspiring. So many color possibilities, both marled and solid. And with a vee neck! I am always looking for those but don’t know if I can manage that At The Same Time business. Maybe it will be easier done sideways? It seems like it would be. Thanks, Cecilia!
Isager website says Tvinni is sportweight; MDK listing it as fingering. And the winner is????
I noticed that too, but when I googled it, all the stores selling it list it as fingering. Maybe its just a Danish thing?
The trouble with the traditional names for weight categories is that they are overlapping and not consistent. Sometimes a yarn changes category without anybody mentioning it. (I’m looking at you, former Rowan Handknit DK Cotton that is now Rowan Handknit Cotton, but there are many examples of this.)
To me, based on the yardage and weight, Tvinni is a fingering weight. It’s quite thin for a sportweight, to my subjective eye.
I have the same challenges with Dyed in the Wool – is it Sport or Fingering. Mostly I think it’s Fingering. I let the gauge and swatch tell the story.
Sometimes yarns look like a certain weight but when knit up they act like a heavier weight because of a characteristic like having a halo. Or they could be right on the edge between two weights.
That sweater alone is worth the book. Is it the sweater or the amazing colors that make it so irresistable, I dont know. But I wouldn’t change one thing about it as printed.
Same – I love this sweater so much, I want to use Cecelia’s exact colors (for my first version) because it is such a great look.
Ditto❣️
I love this sweater pattern! I’ll definitely be giving it a go, thanks MDK and Cecelia!
I am also excited about making this sweater, but I really dislike 3/4 sleeves! I looked at the pattern and I think I can lengthen the sleeves easily; my question is whether I will need to but an extra ball of yarn. Did you have much leftover after knitting the sweater?
That’s buy, not but!
does anyone know if this yarn would be itchy next to the skin? I love this sweater.
You can find some comments/reviews of Tvinni on Ravelry. But itchiness is so subjective, different for everyone.
Is there perhaps a cardigan to follow?
Oh Now we’re talking ladies/gents! Add some steek rows to that midline cast-on & woohoo: Cardigan!
Could you just cast on stitches for the second side instead of picking up stitches since that’s in the middle anyways?
I love everything about this sweater, but every time I sit down to choose 4 colors of Tvinni I am paralyzed by indecision and lack of confidence in my color choices. I think I’m just going to pick from the Midwest autumn colors around me right now and take the plunge.
Shawl pattern by Cecelia shown during Maralong (1/14/22) made from 3 triangles.