Black Mountain Side.

Wool. Wool. Wool. And, more WOOL! What can I say, it's a winter wardrobe staple for this girl. This post is a heaping spoonful. Three projects of wondrous warmth at once! Let's start at the bottom and work our way up, shall we? ​

This sweater is White Pines by Amy Christophers. This is my second White Pines. I've knit this pattern before (yeesh, has it really been five years?!), but this is the first time I've knit a sweater pattern twice. I've always been of the "too many patterns and too little time" mentality. I have more patterns favorited than I will ever be able to knit in my lifetime. However, my original White Pines has stood the test of time, as have most of my raw wool sweaters. Sure they're rough in the beginning. They're not as immediately appealing at their merino cousins. They are hardy workhorses, though. And, like wine, they get better with age. The more they're worn and washed, the more lovely the yarn becomes, and without all the pilling, to boot. So, back when I was bagging stash yarn into projects and came across this Reynolds worsted raw wool I'd purchased at an estate sale, it made sense to use it on a hardy, wear-over-everything cardigan. It also seemed silly to take a chance on a new pattern when I already had such a sweater in my closet. If it's not broken, don't fix it.   This pattern produces a gorgeous, classic cardigan. It's a simple raglan design, and the cables make it fun to knit. I've knit the size 34 1/2", which gives me approximately 5" of positive ease from the finished dimensions. This sweater will definitely benefit from a nice soak, but I can already tell it's going to settle wonderfully. 

The mittens are knit using Ruth Anne's Mitten pattern. I decided to knit them after I'd settled on a hat pattern. I wanted my hat and mittens to coordinate, so I set-out in search for a bulky yarn mitten pattern. I love that these mittens are simple, but not boring. I also love that there are two strands of yarn throughout the mitten, giving them an extra layer of warmth. These are knit from estate sale yarns too. I had a couple skeins of Rowan Polar leftover from my Arvigen and some Elsebeth Lavold Chunky AL that worked great together. 

To top things off, I used the remaining skeins of Rowan Polar to knit the Fidra hat. This pattern was  knee-jerk purchase for me. I knew I needed it as soon as I saw it released! Love at first sight. 

Phew. That's a whole lot of knitting at once. But, let's face, it there's no such thing as too much yarn, right?