A Strange Brew for Hunter

growing into your personal style

Do you remember developing your sense of style? I’ve never really been great with clothing style, or perhaps I should say that I’m more confident at fashionably clothing others than myself. I remember deciding in High School that layering was the way to go. I would wear a plain 3/4 length sleeve shirt under a t-shirt, with bell bottoms (remember when those came back for a hot minute in the late 90s?) and I was pretty sure that was the coolest outfit that was still comfortable, so it was a win.

Flash forward and I’m watching Hunter decide for herself what she wants to wear. She has the same struggles I did, she sometimes wants to be fancy, but realistically reaches for the clothes that are comfortable. I’m so pleased she still loves her handmade sweaters (for now), but she has more specific requests these days (you can read about her black Antler pullover here).

inspired by Emily

I started this sweater while Emily was churning out Strange Brew yokes at an unbelievable rate. It seemed like she had a new sweater weekly (it definitely wasn’t weekly, but she finished the body and sleeves on the knitting machine so it felt super fast). Find a list of all our Strange Brew knits (all of which include charts, so you can make them for yourself!) here.

I was so inspired by Emily’s knits, I cast on immediately to try out some ideas that had been percolating.

strange brew recipe with minor modifications

The central motif on Hunter’s yoke was one I had been wanting to try out for a while. I knew I wanted the motifs above and below to have a sort of ‘fade in’ quality, and the background would be light. I had a few ideas for how to do the ‘fade’ so I cast on to do some experimenting.

The yarn is Brooklyn Tweed Peerie in colourways ‘vintner’, ‘muslin’, and ‘mesa’. Not my usual colour jam, but I’ve been broadening my colour palette horizons lately! Here are the charts I used:

This knit mostly follows the Strange Brew recipe. I knit the 8-10 year size and started it from the top down. The increases come between the motifs. I worked the short rows after the yoke pattern, before the split for body and sleeves. The body is a cropped length and I added short rows to create a high-low hem. The sleeves were meant to be a bit longer, but she grew a bit as I was knitting and when it was done she declared that was how long she like them, so I left it alone. I might need to lengthen them next year to add a bit of wear, but we shall see.

a well loved knit

This sweater has been a great success because it is already in heavy rotation. If you look close you can see it need a bit of a de-pilling and at least the cuffs could use a wash. That’s what I like to see in a sweater knit for a kid – lots of love!