Glacial Sweater by Rock + Purl Review

This sweater by Rock + Purl has been my primary summer knitting project.  I was in desperate need of a studio sweater as my old one by Cabi had worn out.  I am thrilled that I have completed it in time for the colder weather which is already beginning to set in here.....sigh:(

I must wear a sweater in the studio throughout the fall, winter, and spring months as the studio is in our basement and the cold seeps up through the concrete making me perfectly miserable most of the time.

My requirements:  Warm!
                             Snug fitting so it does not collect pins
                             Allows some layering






 The Yarn is what the pattern called for and very reasonable.  Purchased at ColourMart on line.

It is an Extra fine Merino Wool DK 2 ply.  Super soft but it splits easily and looks rather uneven until after blocking.  I would highly recommend it for scarfs as the softness is almost cashmere like.  I had a little difficulty getting my gauge, actually having to go up a needle size which for me is very unusual ( I generally go down a size)

The sweater was a complete pleasure to knit.  No seaming because its knit from the bottom up:) I love that the sleeve detail runs up onto the shoulder by means of short rows and the shaping is flattering.

The pattern comes in a large size range from a 32" bust up to a 64+" bust which I think is awesome.

Although my gauge was correct my final measurements were different in some areas than given in the pattern.  The 2 largest areas being the bicep which was 1" smaller and the hips which were 4-3/8" smaller.  The bicep might be because I tend to knit tighter on double pointed needles and the hip measurement is due to the ribbing I think.

The sweater does button all the way down to the hip so it's not a real issue. I probably should have gone up one size though.  My bust is 36" and I chose the 3rd size (36 3/8") the next size up (38-1/4") might have been a better option.

From the back you can see how nice the shaping is.

The pattern calls for you to make the collar 7" long, but I stopped at 6" because I preferred that scale around my narrow face, but as you can see that left it a touch shy of covering the back neck seam.

I will no doubt get a lot of use out of this sweater and I look forward to seeing how the yarn holds up.

I found the pattern easy to follow and well written.  I would recommend placing markers at the beginning and end of each pattern to help keep you on track.


I started knitting at the end of May and completed it Aug 15th.  The yarn cost $45.00 for 1380 yds(what a deal)  and the pattern sells for $9.00 as a pdf download.  I purchased mine through Craftsy.com