Re-engineering sweater to knit in wool not acrylic

How-to Questions
1

Hey folks,

This is my favourite sweater, but it’s factory made in acrylic and has pilled so badly I can’t wear it. I would like to re-engineer it and knit it again in wool.
Can anyone help identify what the central panel stitches are please? I’m calling them little V shapes followed by larger V shapes and using AI to help create a stitch by stitch guide. If anyone has any hints or tips, that would be amazing.
Also wondering whether anyone has any suggestions for which wool to use? I was thinking a merino, in aran weight, but really happy to take advice from anyone who’s had particular success with a particular wool for cables. I’m going to knit it in black. Want to avoid the pilling issue of the original. All help very much appreciated and received with huge thanks.

image
image797×789 177 KB

image
image598×589 93.4 KB

2

Welcome to the forum!
Lovely cable patterns on that sweater. The central panel which a friend calls “lobster claws” is actually a horseshoe cable. At least that’s one of it’s names.

There are also traveling cables in addition to more conventional cable crosses.

There are various sites like this one that treat different cables and are probably more helpful than AI. Here’s one:

Also various books, some of which may be in the public library.

Cascade 220 is a very nice wool to use in the worsted weight range, also Patons North America Classic Wool Worsted or Malabrigo Rios. Valley Yarns Valley Superwash is more an aran weight. I’ve used all of these for cable knits and like the results with minimal pilling.