Ravello Sweater with Hat

I was really loving the different versions of Ravello designed by Isabell Kraemer that showed up in blog posts and on Ravelry, so in July 2017 I cast on the Ravello Sweater.

I chose 3 colours of WYS Essentials DK which is a wonderful machine washable hard-wearing yarn.

The main colour on the yoke is 602 Light Turquoise. The stripes on the yoke are 618 Fuchsia and the Main colour in the body is 612 Dark Turquoise.

I’d previously started a striped cardigan that was knit in pieces. I’d completed the back and one front, when I realised it would probably never end up sewn up and frogged the project. This was the moment when I came to the realisation that I like knitting top-down sweaters best but I will knit bottom-up ones too. I like being able to try the sweater on at various stages to see how it fits me. This allows me to make a few adjustments for fit when necessary. When the Ravello came along, I decided it would be the perfect project for this yarn.

In comparison to So Faded which was a 4ply/fingering weight sweater, it felt like the Ravello practically knit itself…

I obtained the correct tension with 3.5mm needles for 1×1 rib and 3.75mm needles for the stockinette stitch. The only other change I made was to knit the sweater a little longer, but that is usually what I do when I’m knitting a sweater.

Ravello is a quick fun sweater to knit. I always find that stripes are fun to knit.

I couldn’t resist using up the leftover yarn to knit a striped beanie to go with the sweater. I know, it is a little bit matchy-matchy, but I like it and it is fun! Sometimes it can be difficult to find a hat the right colour to go with a hand-knit sweater and it is a nice way to use up leftover yarn.

When I’d finished, Neil photographed me in the back garden by the rose bed while the roses were looking their best! Roses excel in our garden. We have a south-facing garden with acidic clay soil that really suits plants with taproots like roses. I love deadheading roses and it really helps extend their flowering season.

When we were first in this garden, we tried lots of beautiful plants that failed for us, then we bought a soil testing kit and checked about 10 places in the garden so we would know what type of soil it was. There had to be a reason why magnolias and camellias thrive with us!