My enthusiasm for Mary Jane Mucklestone's new pattern, Stopover, is fanatical! MJ wore this sweater during our 2014 Shetland trip and teased us with the promise of writing it up. Fast forward a year...to our mini-Shetland reunion and another promise that the pattern's release was in fact forthcoming. And then, it happened...Stopover showed up in my pattern highlights, and I was off to by yarn!
Why so much elation and, quite frankly, twitchy voraciousness about this pattern?
1. Color...the possibilities are endless. Here's just a few of the dozen swatches I knit up...
So many different looks can be achieved with a small number of colors. I knew right away that I wanted to use Rust Heather, and I played around with five or six other colors in various combinations before deciding on my palette:
black sheep (52), rust heather (9427), stone blue (9418), and light beige heather (86).
2. Versatility...on our Shetland trip, MJ wore this sweater everywhere, even sheep shearing!
I've made some beautiful handknit sweaters but none that can go with me from teaching in the classroom to coaching on the field hockey field to paddling around the lake.
3. MaryJane...I've taken quite a few technique classes with a variety of designers; MJ is the best! Passionate, knowledgable, nurturing, MJ works the classroom with humor and fluidity!
Who wouldn't want to wrap themselves up in an MJ Mucklestone original!
4. Quick and easy... "A modern Icelandic style lopapeysa worked at loose gauge for a deliciously lightweight garment. Stopover is knit entirely in the round with subtle waist shaping." Once I stopped swatching and started knitting, Stopover was finished in a week. The pattern is easy to follow and the Lopi Lite is much softer than I imagined, with the most amazing bloom. I wore it to my field hockey game the morning I finished. It was a cold and rainy fall day; I was definitely the only one warm, dry, and stylish on the sidelines!
I'm so happy with my Stopover that I told Clarie, from NH Knits, I'd like to offer a pattern giveaway! I think she'll be putting out details in her next podcast, so stop over and have a listen!
