Did you all watch or grow up with The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross? Well, when I tried on my freshly blocked Humulus his famous phrase was my first thought: “There are no mistakes, only happy little accidents.”
Humulus by Isabell Kraemer called to me from the moment I saw its hop-filled yoke last year. At the time I was still living in Fort Collins, Colorado—the Napa Valley of craft beer. The sweater design and enthusiastic beer lifestyle of Colorado were a perfect pairing. When I moved back to the east coast I decided to make Humulus as a wooly token of my second home. A sheepish text was sent to Kate requesting a sweaters worth of my favorite new Kelbourne yarn, Scout, in graphite heather and natural. A short time later a bag full of squishy Scout was all mine!
The original Humulus is gorgeous, but I needed to modify it for my body type and comfort level. So, I carefully swatched, blocked my swatch, made modifications for a swancho-type fit with deep armholes, a roomy body with ample ease, and a cowl neck. What I didn’t expect was my gauge drastically changing over the four months spent picking up and putting down this project. Clearly, my new Kelbourne lifestyle has suited me well because my gauge got wicked loose.
When I tried on my Humulus after blocking the hemline nearly touched my knees, the armholes were deeper than I intended, but the overall look was surprisingly perfect! The whole sweater-dress-bag look is one I can get on-board with this winter and many winters to follow.
The best element of all is Scout—this sweater-dress is soft enough to wear against my skin (which is quite sensitive) without a wee poke to be felt. Many knitters have used Scout in their Humulus, and I have to say we all couldn’t have picked a better yarn for this design.
Find all the Scout colors and stockists list here. Let me know if you’re making or planning to make a Humulus in Scout, too!