I have a lot to say about this sweater besides madly loving it.

Baileys Irish Cream, designed by Baby Cocktails.  Her patterns never disappoint.  Knit bottom up and seamless, although I do knit my sleeves flat, adding a selvedge stitch to each edge for seaming.  Her patterns are clear and easy to understand, why can't every pattern be like this?  I give Baby a hug.

The lace pattern looks difficult, don't worry, it's not. Just some yarn overs and knit 2 togethers with a simple cable tossed in.  The chart is easy to follow and the pattern repeat was fairly simple.  Little details like the turned under hem, eyelet neck and cabled placket just make it even nicer.  My husband loves to rate my sweaters, this one he gave a "wow".  Sweet.

I was looking for the perfect yarn for this, I knew it would be a special sweater.  Yarn choice is so important, the wrong yarn can ruin a beautiful pattern.  It's loverly pure silk, Mulberry by Louisa Harding.  Expensive yes, but I was able to buy a bag of ten skeins at a good price at Stitches West.   Janettes also has it on sale, I think it must be discontinued now.  This silk is so soft it's like a feather, with a beautiful sheen and drape.  It required my pointiest wood needles, I used my Knit Picks Harmonies, man I love those, they always come to my rescue.  The points helped with the splittiness of the silk plies, yes it's quite splitty, and the wood helped the slick yarn to stick a bit and avoid too much slipping.  This particular yarn looks beautiful in the lace, but stockinette is a bit uneven, maybe I am being too picky, but I do like my stockinette stitches to line up perfectly, like little soldiers. Because of the delicate yarn, this sweater will take some particular care in the washing and blocking department, but some sweaters are worth a bit of fuss.

The best thing about this sweater is wearing it.  It's feels so good against my skin and just so pretty.

I am very happy, this will be a special occasion sweater.
Ravelry link here.

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xo

Knitionary