The Reluctant Homeschooler Project: Introduction
Posted by Heather Sealey on
We all need a cozy sweater these days. Cozy enough to snuggle in at home, but decent enough to run to the store in (unlike that comfy but grungy sweatshirt none of us want to admit to or be seen in). A secret PJ sweater.
As soon as I saw the Reluctant Homeschooler by Caitlin Hunter, I knew it was perfect! Not only is it chunky and cozy, its simple stockinette fabric is brainless while allowing the yarn to sing.
"I designed this sweater as a comforting, gratifying project to work on while I reluctantly (but gratefully!) homeschool my 3 boys during school shut downs. 2020 has brought many challenges to our lives, and I was in the mood for my knitting to not be one of them! You don’t have to be a reluctant homeschooler to knit this sweater, it is for everyone!"
But what yarn to knit with? It calls for a bulky weight yarn, and I went through every bulky yarn in the store with a picky eye. I considered knitting it out of Sugar Bush Canoe, which is an odd but delightful yarn that gives a tweedy fabric. But I'm low in stock and not sure if my supplier has more right now (stocking up in the time of COVID is interesting), and it wasn't quite what I wanted.
Wanna know what I wanted? A soft marled effect, but with a subtle gradient from top to bottom. Something in cozy soft colours. Something warm.
Llama Natural Worsted is a lovely blend of 80% merino 20% llama in 8 natural undyed colours. I picked a cream colour for the base, and 3 other shades to gradually change throughout the skein. My plan is to hold 2 strands together throughout the whole sweater, which I promise you is not nearly as hard as it sounds! That will give the lovely marled effect I want, and make it exciting to continue when I start to get bored knitting it because A NEW COLOUR IS COMING SOON!
Keep an eye out here for progress on this sweater. The next post will talk about gauge swatching and blocking. This pattern is great, because you use your pockets as swatches, so no wasted knitting!