I love girly sweaters knitted in elegant yarn.  I like them fitted with tiny, feminine, details.  I make a lot of those kind of sweaters, but while looking through my sweater wardrobe last season, I noticed I was missing the most basic: the casual, everyday sweater--that sweater that goes in and out of the washer/dryer and basically takes the place of a sweatshirt.  With so many new machine-washable yarns available, it's an easy problem to remedy, so I set about to make a few.  Bellerose by Martin Storey fills that void in my wardrobe and is the newest item in my closet.  It calls for Rowan Pure Wool Worsted, a yarn I have used many times since it's introduction last year.  It's an easy care, machine-washable, well-priced yarn meant for the entire family. It's easy to knit, with enough bounce to achieve an even fabric with just a light blocking.  While the ball band will tell you to dry flat, I tumble dry with great results:

Step one:  turn inside-out.
Two:  put in a sweater bag.
Three:  Wash on gentle cycle with cool water.
Four:  Still inside-out, remove from sweater bag and tumble dry on LOW until almost dry.
Five:  Turn rightside-out, lay flat and pat to shape to finish drying.

Rowan does not recommend the above, but I just wanted to share what I did with success.  So there you go.  I do want to say, that even though a sweater may be machine washable, it is still a hand-knit, and I respect that.  I make sure that I don't wash it very often.  I find I can get some distance between washes if I hand wash the cuffs only or dab out a spot.  I don't throw it into the wash basket willy-nilly.

Bellerose is from one of the newer Rowan Loves books--they have quickly become favorites of knitters as each pattern has a few options for style details and yarn.  This pattern can be knit as a pullover or a cardigan.

Bellerose by Martin Storey is from 

Rowan Loves Pure Wool Worsted and Creative Focus Worsted
the yarn, Rowan Pure Wool Worsted

my Ravelry project page with all the details

I asked my teen-age neighbor Jessica to model for me.  She just does such a nice job in front of the camera, doesn't she?  That last picture above is me, but can you guess where I am?  For Big Sur lovers, the iconic concrete bleachers with their bright pillows are a dead giveaway that I'm at Nepenthe.  Kaffe Fassett fans know he grew up here.  His family still owns the restaurant, cafe, gift shop, family home and surrounding land and I know he comes to visit about once a year.   Me too, Big Sur is one of my favorite places in the world and I have to come at least once a year or I'll miss it too much.  If it's been a while, I beg my husband to take me there, if only just for a day trip.  For this trip we were meeting for a one night family reunion and had lunch at Nepenthe.  It was as crowded as I've ever seen it, probably because the weather was breathtaking--bright blue skies with a few puffs of white clouds just for contrast.  We stayed at Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, very rustic, but reasonable prices for the area and besides, there's really not a lot of choices.  We've stayed there a few times and like it, but if you go on my recommendation, please do remember that it's rustic, but like I said, I love Big Sur.  So much. Grandpa's room is my favorite and it has a record collection with a turntable and plenty of old records.  I played some Chambers Brothers, Tower of Power and Moody Blues.  The younger people in our group came in to have a good look at this curiosity!