There's always that one sweater

 You know that sweater - the one you finish right before the weather warms up.  (Note the forsythia blossoms - spring is here.) This year, that sweater is achikochi, by eri shimizu. According to shimizu, " ‘achikochi’ is a Japanese word meaning ‘here and there’." And the arrow motifs on this sweater point here, and there.

The yarn is a souvenir of our niece's wedding, in October of 2019. We stayed in Independence, OR and found the little yarn shop for Rosemary Ridge Farm.

This isn't the shop - it's the Airbnb we stayed in. But at least for me, it evokes all the fun memories of that weekend. All our kids staying with us in this little house. My niece's lovely wedding. Beautiful fall days walking around this little Willamette Valley town. And finding a yarn shop on one of the only days it was open. That sold yarn from individual sheep. My yarn is from Monty and Martha - the Martha yarn says lace weight, but seemed to knit up to the same gauge as Monty, labeled fingering or sock weight. The Martha (white-ish) skein was 100% Shetland wool, while Monty had mohair and nylon as well.  Between buying this yarn and knitting it up, I bought the yarn specified for this sweater for another project (the Forever Mitten). And to be honest, I think it might be a bit better for this sweater. But though this yarn knit up on the stiff, wiry, and "will it fluff out enough to look good at this gauge" side, it turned out fine. And adds to good memories.

I originally didn't knit the bottom ribbing quite as long as the pattern specified - it's about half an inch shorter in these pictures, and it bothered me enough that I added a half inch or so later.

 

It's a small difference, but worth it. I also tweaked the neckline - shown in it's unblocked glory here. The neck is quite unfinished, and on my sweater, wanted to roll so that the wonderful first motif couldn't be seen well. So I used directions from my Yokester sweater, which had short-row shaping to build up the back neck, and then added just a couple of rows of ribbing.

Altogether I'm happy with my modifications and I love this sweater. We bought a Bonfire for our backyard, and it's the perfect sitting by the fire sweater. 

achikochi

• designed by eri shimizu
• Three 400 yard skeins of Montgomery Sheepkids yarn, 74% Shetland, 11% Mohair, 15% Nylon, and two skein of Martha, 100% wool. I am not sure if I used more than one skein of the white yarn. Both from Rosemary Ridge Farm, born and raised in Monmouth, Oregon.
  
• US size 6 needles.
• Size M
• On Ravelry here