Alpaca Silk 4ply

Artesano has just launched a new yarn called Alpaca Silk 4ply which is beautiful to knit with. To accompany the new yarn they've also released a pattern collection. I contributed two designs to this collection.

Belinda is an elegant casual sweater. I used two colours for the deep garter stitch edgings on the body and sleeves as well as for the cowl collar. The body is knitted in stocking stitch.

Belinda is worked in one piece minimising finishing. The body of the sweater is worked in the round to the underarms. The front and back are then worked separately to the shoulders which are joined using a three needle cast off. Stitches for the sleeves are picked up around the armhole and the sleeves worked in the round from the top down with short row sleeve caps. 

Finally, pick up stitches for the collar which is worked in the round. The result is a cozy, soft and silky sweater which looks great with jeans and smart trousers. A big thank you to Frances for knitting the sample for me.

Phoebe is a shawl using two colours of the Alpaca Silk 4ply. It's a very simple shawl with two lace panels separating three triangles. The shawl is worked from the top down with regular increases to create the shape of the shawl. A big thank you to Anita for knitting the sample for me.

Finish off with a simple picot cast off. Rachel from Tangled Yarn is running a KAL (knitalong) for this shawl at the moment. Pop over to her website for details and to order the yarn (there's a discount if you order before end of May). Phoebe is available as a free download. 

You can see the complete Alpaca Silk 4ply collection, which includes designs by other designers, here.