“Hiraeth - is a Welsh word for longing or nostalgia, an earnest longing or desire, or a sense of regret. The feeling of longing for a home that no longer exists or never was. A deep and irrational bond felt with a time, era, place or person.”

HIRAETH is a very special sweater to me. It is worked out of a wonderful rustic yarn that is produced by a small business in city that I love: Marburg, Hesse, Germany. A place where I once lived for more than 7 years and which I will always keep very dear in my heart. My HIRAETH sweater reminds me of the wonderful time I spent there and gives me the feeling of coming back home whenever I wear it.

HIRAETH is worked seamlessly from the top down: You cast on stitches for the neckline and shape it with short rows. After the yoke is finished you divide your stitches and work the body and the sleeves separately in the round. The pattern includes instructions with and without waist shaping for you to choose.

I hope this project will bring back a lot of happy memories for you too! Happy knitting!

I would love to see your HIRAETH on Ravelry or on social media. It is always very exciting to see all your beautiful works. So I would be happy if you use this hashtag #hiraethsweater for the sweater and tag me @herbgarden.knitwear!

This pattern went through tech editing and test knitting. I was not able to find testers for the sizes 2XS, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL though. If you are interested in testing one of these sizes, please send me a message.

SIZES
2XS (XS, S, M) (L, XL, 2XL) (3XL, 4XL, 5XL)
with bust circumference of finished garment:
76.5 (82, 91, 100) (109, 118, 124.5) (130, 141, 146.5) cm
30.25 (32.25, 35.75, 39.25) (42.75, 46.25, 49) (51.25, 55.5, 57.75) “
HIRAETH is intended to be worn with 2-4cm / 0.75-1.5” of positive ease around the bust.

YARN
Main Color
3 (3, 4, 4) (4, 5, 5) (6, 6, 7) skeins or
270 (290, 330, 360) (400, 450, 490) (520, 560, 610) g
of Raincloud & Sage Origin (100g, 200m /219yds, 100% German merino) in color cream

Contrast Color
1 skein or 60 (65, 70, 75) (80, 80, 85) (85, 90, 100) g
of Raincloud & Sage Origin (100g, 200m /219yds, 100% German merino) in color natural dye 02

Please note that these values are only estimates. Changes in yarn or gauge as well as changes of the pattern can result in a different yardage.

GAUGE
18 sts and 28 rounds = 10cm / 4” after blocking.

Make sure to have to same gauge for the corrugated rib and the plain Stockinette. Some people need to use two different needle sizes for the different stitch patterns to achieve that.

NEEDLES
4.5mm needles (or size to obtain gauge with)

TOOLS
A tapestry needle or crochet hook to weave in the ends and a stitch marker.

TECHNIQUES

• working in the round
• working increases
• working decreases
• German Twisted Cast-On
• Corrugated rib (like stranded colorwork but stitches in one color are purled)
• German Short Rows