I knit the Single Malt sweater by Maxim Cyr as a gift for my husband. The Single Malt sweater is knit in the round top-down with raglan sleeves. It uses a simple, yet beautiful stitch motif in an Aran weight yarn on size US 8 needles. Continue reading for my experience knitting the Single Malt Sweater.
FIT + SIZING
The Single Malt sweater is meant to have 2 – 4 inches of positive ease, and there are 9 sizes to choose from. Looking at a lot of the finished projects from others on Ravelry, the standard ease appeared to give a nice, shirt/sweater fit. The texture, sleeve detail, and fit reminded me of these shirts my husband would wear all the time. I’d planned on knitting the size 4, but my husband requested a looser fit so I knit the size 5, giving him ~5.5 inches positive ease.
YARN + SWATCHING
This Single Malt sweater’s texture really shines in the recommended British Aran from Dyed by Delz. I loved all the color options, but unfortunately none was available in the quantity I needed for size 5. I started researching other yarn options that had a similar composition as the British Aran (75% Bluefaced Leicester, 25% Masham 175 yards / 100 grams) which was a little difficult.
I shifted my focus to finding a yarn that was non-superwash with a more sturdy composition (not merino) in a similar weight. I usually start with yarnsub.com when looking for similar/substitute yarns, but this British Aran wasn’t on their database. I went back to Ravelry to see the yarns that others had used. I really like being able to research yarns and see how they knit up through others’ Ravelry postings. You can find a perfect yarn for your new project, or at least have more information to use on yarnsub to find something else.
I ended up picking American Corriedale in Rye 02 from Stone Wool. This yarn is 100% Corriedale 165 yds / 113 grams which I thought would be a nice substitution for the British Aran. I love the color and texture of this yarn. It definitely has the structure I was looking for, yet it isn’t super scratchy to work with.
I wound my yarn with a swift and ball-winder to get center-pull balls. While winding the yarn, I came across several small little knots in multiple skeins of the yarn. I’ve had a few other yarns that had knotted joins in the past, but this yarn had knots in a majority of the skeins. I’m not sure if that’s a function of this type of yarn/mill, but it was a little annoying to work with because I had more ends to weave in. I didn’t trust the knots would hold and I had never “spit-spliced” before, so cutting the knot and weaving was what I chose.
Because this is a garment and a gift, I wanted to try and get the best fit possible. I did a small swatch in the round to check for gauge and I was spot on before blocking; I decided that was good enough. I ripped back my swatch so I reclaim that yarn and start the real cast on.
SINGLE MALT SWEATER
Before getting started on the pattern, I went through and highlighted or crossed out whatever applied/didn’t apply for the size 5. I don’t have a printer, so I always work my patterns from my iPad. I actually prefer it that way because I can easily write out notes, highlight my progress, tally any repeats, and erase as needed. It’s also really nice because I have all my patterns in one place (books app), and I can multitask with YouTube to look up a technique or just watch a show.
Cast On + Neck Shaping
I cast on the Single Malt with the German Twisted cast on (instead of the long tail recommended in the pattern). I really like the stretch it gives and I think it has a nice edge. I used my 14″ cable and US 6 needles to get started.
There is neck shaping in the sweater that is incorporated into the collar ribbing. I think it looks great and the pattern was very well-written.
Raglan Increases
The setup round includes a stitch I’d never used before: m1Lp (make one left purl). It’s been a while since I’ve needed to YouTube for stitch help, but I found this video to show how to do the stitch:
I love when a pattern has something new for me to learn. Even though this stitch was not too different from a normal m1L, it was nice to try out a new technique.
The raglan detail seamlessly extends from the ribbing in the collar. It looks so nice and polished. There was a a two round repeat worked multiple times to get to the required yoke depth. I swapped out to my 22″ cable, then my 30″ cable as my stitches started to get crowded. I love interchangeable needles so much, especially in situations like this. Rather than purchase multiple size 8 needles with varying cable sizes, my one interchangeable set can do it all. I definitely recommend making the investment!
Split for Sleeves
After so many raglan increase repeats, I was so excited to split for the sleeves. It had been a while since I knit a top-down sweater, and splitting for the sleeves is one of my favorite things.
I moved my sleeve stitches onto smaller cables and secured the ends with a safety pin. I like leaving the held stitches on a cable so that I can easily just screw on the needles when it’s time rather than having to transfer them off waste yarn/stitch holder.
This yarn gives such beautiful stitch definition. I really love the Rye 02 colorway; it’s like a rich golden brown with a lot of depth from the heathering.
Sleeves
I needed a break from knitting the body, so I picked up and knit one of the sleeves. I thought the pattern was really clear in this section and I liked the “seam” detail under the arm.
I decided to knit the second sleeve before finishing the body. The sleeves went by really fast and I liked the change of pace. I knit both sleeves using my shorties needles. This set is really great for small things in the round and they work with the regular interchangeable set as well.
Body
The body took me forever. After taking a break and finishing the sleeves, I couldn’t find the motivation to finish for a while. I think my motivation was low because I was knitting in only one color and the pattern is repetitive. I really enjoy knitting shawls that have frequent color transitions because I’m motivated to knit to the next color. It’s been a while since I knit a single-color sweater.
Once I was ready to tackle this Single Malt sweater again, it flew off the needles. I washed it and blocked it to dry.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but there is a clear difference in yarn colors in the body after I split for the sleeves. It’s more noticeable on camera than in real life, but that’s a risk of using any dyed yarns.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I love the look of this sweater, and my husband loves it too. Even though it took me longer than I’d planned, this sweater was fun to knit and the pattern was well-written.
I love the little details of the collar ribbing extending into the raglan increases, and the neck shaping integrated perfectly into the stitch pattern.
I liked working with this yarn. It’s a beautiful color and the structure was just what I was wanting for this sweater. The stitch definition is perfect and it’s not too scratchy for my husband.
My only yarn critique is that 4 of the 7 skeins I wound had knotted joins in the middle. I have never experienced so many knots in so many skeins before. It seemed like I was essentially getting 8 smaller skeins and 3 normal skeins instead of seven 165-yard skeins. It wasn’t a huge deal, but something to be aware of if you are considering this same yarn.
Overall, I’m super happy with this sweater design and how my Single Malt turned out. Check out my Ravelry page for a look at the other projects I’m working on!
