The pattern is Dearne knit in Rowan's Valley Tweed. Perhaps a v-neck knit in gray tweed does not look terribly exciting, but it is practical, classic, smart, and sophisticated. This is the type of sweater I love to wear every day. It looks gorgeous with my pearls and my favorite black pencil skirt and great with jeans too. I made no mods except to knit the sleeves top-down with short rows. Sadly, this technique is rarely written into patterns, although I am starting to see it more frequently. But it doesn't matter because it's super easy to modify any sleeve pattern with a bell-shaped top.

Valley Tweed is a sport weight. With US#3 needles I got 24 stitches to 4 inches. I truly love knitting miles of stockinette with scrumptious yarn on tiny needles. Valley Tweed had a toothy, pleasantly textured feel in the hand. The tweed fabric is very fine and even delicate. The tiny tweed flecks in this light gray Malham are mostly white with a little bit of charcoal. Now, this might be hard for some to hear--I know how many people love Felted Tweed--but I prefer Valley Tweed over Felted Tweed. VT is not as stretchy as FT while knitting, but after washing, VT blooms and softens and it is possible for this knitter to wear it next to the skin. I've worn it at least a dozen times since it was finished and have washed it twice and the fabric is holding up beautifully. There is very little pilling, but next wash I'm going to use the Gleener under the arms where I noticed some pills are starting to pop up. By the way, the Gleener is seriously life changing and is the only sweater shaver that I've found to be effective yet still safe enough for my precious hand knits. Fabric care: hand wash in cool water, roll in a big absorbent towel to remove excess water, pat to shape and dry out of the sun.

This took me close to a year to make because I save this kind of simple knitting for when I go to the movies. Now that it's finished I need another movie/church knit and have just cast on for a cropped and crew-neck version of Dearne in a dark charcoal Valley Tweed.

I hope you have a pleasant week ahead and enjoy some fabulous knitting time!