Anne's Sweater, the Ravellenic Games, and Pantone Surprise!

 by Joanna

This year, for the first time, I have decided to try my hand at the Ravellenic Games. (For those of you who might not know the history... you can read about the Knitting Olympics here on the Yarn Harlot's blog, and about the origin of the name "Ravellenic Games" here on Gawker.) Although I have done my share of intense and busy deadline knitting over the years, this is my first "just for fun" knitting challenge. I decided that my project would be the Anne's Sweater pattern from Green Gables Knits:

Although I do have the book sample in my trunk show, I wanted to knit a version of this sweater "just for me"- to wear day in and day out. When I designed Anne's Sweater, I used 50 gram skeins of Brown Sheep Lanaloft Sport. I recently contacted Brown Sheep Company and discovered that this yarn is available on a one-pound cone. Knitting a top-down seamless sweater from a cone is amazing, hardly any ends to weave in at all! Behold, the cone:

This one-pound cone is enough yarn to knit the 30", 34" and 38" sweater, and it retails for just $32.00. Wow! I feel like I'm writing an infomercial here, but seriously, a sweater's worth of 100% US spun wool for $32? I am smitten. If your yarn shop does not stock this yarn in cones, they can order it for you from Brown Sheep directly. I am currently on the second sleeve and have yet to weave in an end.

The color I chose for my sweater is Rose Marquee, which is a lovely purple heathered with gray. It is a really pretty color. I chose this color back in January, and low and behold, it looks very close to the fall 2014 Pantone color Majestic Orchid. Not that I would have chose a color based on the fashion predictor, but it was a nice happy surprise for me!

Last but not least, I am having a wonderful time doing this crafting adventure alongside our daughter, who has chosen to crochet a mandala for her own Ravellenic Games Project. We are making great memories staying up late watching the Olympics and stitching together. Isn't her project turning out beautifully?