Citadel

Recently, I found the most amazing sweater design called "Citadel."  I always knew The Citadel was a military school in South Carolina, but the designer of this beautiful cardigan is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. So I did some research and found out that a citadel is a fortified area of town, a castle, or a fortress.  Joji Locatelli's design "Citadel" would make any girl feel like the queen of the castle. This cozy cardigan would surely be a fortress against the attacks of a blustery winter day. Knitting this intricately-cabled cardigan is like preparing for a battle of the mind. Completing it takes a lot of fortitude.  Believe me, mine was put into timeout on several occasions before I mustered up the courage to rip parts of it back and knit on. 

I'm so glad I didn't give up.  In the end, it was totally worth it. I chose to knit mine out of Juniper Moon Farm's Gabriella.  It is an Aran-weight 100% Merino wool.  Mine is knit in the #5 Light Grey colorway.  This was the perfect yarn for this design because it really shows off the cables.  

I have a knitting miracle to share.  I purchased this yarn on closeout at my local Tuesday Mornings store, because at $6.99 a ball for 100% Merino wool, how could I pass it up.  Well, when I started knitting the sleeves, I began to panic knowing I would run out of yarn before knitting the collar. I got online, only to discover this yarn was discontinued.  My heart sank. I started looking to other Ravelers stashes to see if anyone wanted to let me purchase any, but no one had it listed as "would trade or sell."  Luckily I found a yarn store online called Personal Threads Boutique from Omaha, Nebraska that had some in stock.  I thought the dye lot will surely be different, but if I used it only for the collar that maybe it wouldn't be that noticeable.  As luck would have it, the yarn arrived and had exactly the same dye lot as mine.  You should have seen my happy dance!