I am planning a trip to the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival this year (2024), so when I saw the Framed sweater pattern was released as Andrea’s Rhinebeck pattern, I knew I had to make it! I don’t expect to be able to go again, or at least for a very long time, so I want to make the most of my trip this year, and do all the things. 

When the pattern was released, I had recently seen that my (only) local yarn shop, Coast to Coast Yarn Co, had Spincycle yarn in stock. That week, I went in and got the yarn that I was looking for. I wanted the most ‘autumn’ feeling color possible, since Rhinebeck is in October in New England. A perfect time to become one with the trees. I am super indecisive, but thanks to the help of Erin (#3 I think?), I was able to pick out my color combo and my contrasting yarn. I knew I already had a good yarn for the neck and sleeves in stash, so I just needed the Spincycle and the contrasting yarn.

Yarn Details

First Impressions

I began knitting the Framed sweater on July 29, 2024. I quickly found it was going to be a fast knit. Knitting up the quilt pattern was addicting. It was very enjoyable watching the quilt pattern slowly revealed the more rows you knit. This is a bottom-up pattern, so you get to the quilted part pretty quickly. I wish I had done a few more rows of blue at the bottom though, because I did end up needing to knit quite a few more rows to make it long enough before splitting for the sleeves. 

As I started to see it coming together, I was worried that the contrast I had with the stark white against the red color of the yarn (at the beginning) would be too much. I didn’t want to blind anyone with how bright the white was. However, as I completed an entire single repeat of the quilt pattern, I grew happier and happier with my choice. 

Alterations

Once you complete two full repeats of the pattern, that’s when you split for the sleeves. When I got to that point, my sweater wasn’t near long enough. The pattern is a little bit tricky in that you can’t just do a few more rows to make it long enough. You have to do at least a full repeat of the pattern so that it will match up with the sleeves once those are added. I ended up needing 2 more full repeats, so double the amount it suggests. Thankfully, I knew I had enough extra yarn that I thought this would work! 

I knew that I could shorten the sleeves if needed to make up for the extra yarn I had used. 

After starting on the first sleeve, I realized that they seemed a little tight. So I decided to slip the live stitches onto a try-on cord, and blocked it. 

Once it was dry, I was able to try it on again, and found it was still too tight. So, sadly, I unraveled the entire sleeve I had been working on, and started over with one size larger needles. 

The Unexpected

As I began knitting, however, I realized that the white yarn had been stained by the spincycle through the blocking process. It was only stained in the places the yarn was directly touching it, so it gave the yarn almost a confetti look. It was showing through fairly obviously though, so I cut the yarn and started using fresh yarn. 

The Last Mile

Because I had used so much extra yarn in the body, I decided to knit one sleeve up until the cuff, and then switch to the second sleeve before finishing up the first sleeve, so that I could ensure that both would be the same length, and I would have enough yarn to do that. 

The pattern is written for 3/4 length sleeves, but I prefer sleeves that cover my hand – almost oversized. So I was going to be stretching my yarn quantities even more. 

Thankfully I had plenty of yarn to carry out this plan! I even had an entirely full skein of the white as leftover yarn. The Spincycle was CLOSE. And I still have plenty of the blue. 

Finally, it was time to block! 

Final Thoughts

It is a little bit tight, but overall I think this is a piece I will be wearing a lot this winter, and look forward to the group pic at Rhinebeck! The pattern knits up so quickly, it is tempting to make a second version. I’ve seen some people make solid color versions rather than using Spincycle as the contrasting yarn, and I think those are super cute. I am on a self-imposed yarn ban until Rhinebeck though, so I will have to wait until then!