A Gilded Age of Cozy Knits

It's the return of the gilded age! Here's my latest design: Gilded Haze.

For this design I was inspired by the yarn, Silk Mohair Fat Fluff from Adlibris. Like the name suggests, it's an up-sized version of the most light and airy silk mohair yarns that are available on the market. Usually these yarns are lace weight but Fat Fluff is very fat indeed: it knits up to an aran- or even bulky-weight gauge of 15 to 18 stitches per 10 cm (or 4 inches).

With this fuzzy heavy-weight champion I wanted a cozy garment with minimal details that would knit up quickly. What emerged at the other end of that thought process is Gilded Haze, a circular yoke pullover that combines simple elegance with a touch of thoughtful details. A delicate diamond-shaped lace motif adorns the yoke but the rest of the sweater is worked in smooth stockinette. Deep ribbing frames the edges at the neckline, sleeve cuffs, and hem.

The name is a playfully punny nod to the Gilded Age, the late 19th century historical era of enormous economic growth, and the halo of the yarn that gives the sweater its fuzzy texture. There's a bit of "golden cage" thrown in as well: the lace motif on the yoke looks a bit like a wire fence. Waxing philosophical for a moment, perhaps we're all birds trapped in this golden cage of throwing silk mohair at every knit?

That was deep. Getting back to the sweater pattern, it has two neckline options so you can tailor the look of the sweater to suite your style and mood. I love a good cowl neck and Gilded Haze has just that: a long and luscious cowl that's folded over itself in the end. But if you can't stand the feel of something rubbing against your neck, choose the classic crew neck option. Both are worked in 2×2 ribbing to match the sweater hem and sleeve cuffs.

Photos from Gilded Haze test knitters. Top row, cowl neck (left to right): tobymacdougal, KahlanAmnell, KimEQuilts, zrinka. Bottom row, crew neck: kween7777, Tuija, yason, cmhillner.

However you choose to do the neckline, the sweater is knit seamlessly from the top down as a hybrid of the round-yoke and raglan constructions. The circular yoke is shaped with sets of increases above and (depending on size) below the diamond-shaped lace pattern on the yoke. Short rows and raglan increases are then worked simultaneously before separating the body and sleeves. Raglan shaping gives a bit more control in fine-tuning the fit of the upper-chest circumference than relying on round yoke increases alone. It also helps in eliminating bunching at the underarms, a tip I picked up from Interweave's The Art of Circular Yokes.

Short rows are used to lengthen the back yoke and to stop the front neck from riding too high. I've seen a fair share of cowl- or turtlenecked sweater patterns that don't have any front neck shaping, leading to the dreaded "crumb catcher" effect. This extra pouch of fabric at the front of a garment is the result of treating the back and front bodies the same. High necked or not, every sweater needs some form of neck shaping to fit the human body properly.

The lace pattern on the yoke is quite small in repeat and fairly simple in stitches but there are a few purl rows thrown in for added texture. Moving and staggering the repeats is what gives the lace its rhombus-shaped pattern: it's tiers of interlocking diamonds standing on point. All yoke increases are above and below the lace section so you don't need to worry about yoke shaping while knitting the lace. As always, both written and charted lace instructions are given in the pattern so you can follow the one you prefer.

After the yoke the sweater is just simple stockinette in the round, making it very quick, simple, and mindless to knit. But the stockinette background also provides the perfect blank canvas for adding bust shaping if you need it. In my signature style, the pattern includes both ready-made and customizable instructions for bust shaping in the form of vertical bust darts.

Here's a bit of a deviation from my usual sweater patterns: there's no waist shaping. (I know!) Instead, the hem is gently A-lined, tapering towards the hem. This gives the sweater a flattering drape and ensures that the deeply ribbed section is hip hugging, yet comfortable to wear.

The sleeves are the same style as on Lyrides and Draconides. They're slightly overlong and minimally shaped before narrowing into the deep ribbed cuffs. The extra length and looseness of the almost bishop-style sleeves pools softly at the wrists, complementing the voluminous cowl. The sweater finishes with a stretchy bind-off of your choice to give flexibility to the hem and cuffs. For an optimal stretch and a clean look I recommend using the sweater version of the Improved Stretchy Bind-off for 2×2 Ribbing.

Schematic of finished measurements for Gilded Haze.

Gilded Haze is available in 10 sizes from XS to 6X, and is intended to be worn with a classic fit of 5 cm or 2 inches of positive ease. Finished upper-body circumferences — omitting optional bust shaping — range between 75–168 cm (29½–66"). Finished bust circumferences (with bust dart) range between 80–183 cm (31½–72¼") but, as said, can be adjusted based on your body measurements.

To knit the sweater you'll need aran-weight yarn in the following amounts:

• for the crew-neck version: approx. 780 (830, 920, 1050, 1140) [1250, 1380, 1510, 1600, 1700] m / 860 (910, 1010, 1150, 1250) [1360, 1510, 1650, 1750, 1860] yd

• for the cowl-neck version: approx. 870 (900, 1010, 1150, 1250) [1360, 1500, 1630, 1720, 1820] m / 950 (980, 1110, 1260, 1370) [1480, 1640, 1780, 1880, 1990] yd

Adlibris Silk Mohair Fat Fluff in Copper Kettle Amber. Maybe?

To create that soft, glowing halo that inspired the name, choose a yarn with a bit of fluff — something that blurs the stitches to look like it's glowing from within. I recommend using fibers such as silk mohair, brushed alpaca, or other blends with a fuzzy element. You can also pair a smooth base yarn with a fluffy companion.

My golden sample was knit in Adlibris Silk Mohair Fat Fluff (70% mohair, 30% silk, 75 m/25 g, 82 yd/0.88 oz) in a colorway that — on the ballband — is called copper kettle amber. On their website, though, the same color is dubbed spicy mustard yellow so I don't know what in the earth is going on with those names.

Yarn and colorway suggestions for Gilded Haze.

Similar yarns and colors include

• Garnstudio DROPS Melody (71% alpaca, 25% wool, 4% nylon, 140 m/50 g, 153 yd/1.76 oz) in the colorway 18 mustard (top right)

• Katia Ingenua (78% mohair, 13% nylon, 9% merino, 140 m/50 g, 153 yd/1.76 oz) in the colorway 16 ochre (bottom left), or

• Sandnes Garn Ballerina Chunky Mohair (77% mohair, 18% cotton, 5% nylon, 135 m/50 g, 148 yd/1.76 oz) in the colorway 2745 cognac (bottom right).

Depending on size you'll need 7–13 if the yarn comes in 50-gram skeins or double that of the Fat Fluff because it comes in smaller, 25-gram skeins.

Gilded Haze is all about warmth, softness, and understated luxury. Get the pattern in my pattern shops on Payhip, LoveCrafts, and Ravelry (seizure warning).

Which yarn and color did you pick? Share your creations on Instagram using the hashtags #gildedhazesweater and #talviknits. Instagram are doing their best to break hashtags so tag me, @talviknits, to make sure I can see your project.

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