About the pattern:
This sweater is knitted starting with the back, working back and forth from the top down. Next, stitches are picked up for the shoulders, and the front is worked back and forth from the top down. The front and back are then joined with a horizontal cable that creates the armholes. After that, stitches are picked up separately for the front and back again, and the lower sections of the sweater are worked with side slits. The sleeves and collar are worked in the round. The pattern has detailed instructions with knitting charts for each size and accompanying videos to guide you through the process.
Yarn: Lana Grossa LOVELY COTTON (lala BERLIN) / Weight: Super Bulky (5-6 wpi).
Yarn options from the test group:
• Istex Plotulopi + 2 strands of KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud (3 strands total) - keep in mind that this combination doesn’t provide the same perfect stitch definition as the original yarn, but it does make a very warm, lightweight sweater.
• Cascade Ecological Wool - provides great stitch definition.
• Lana Grossa Winter Softness - provides great stitch definition, but a little thicker than the original yarn (don’s skip swatching).
Knitting gauge: Mixed pattern (cable, brioche and seed sts), 7 mm needles:
17 sts in 10 cm and 26 rows in 10 cm.
Needles:
• 4 mm and 7 mm circular needles with 40 needle cord for the collar
• 4 mm circular (or DPN) needles with 80-120 cm needle cord for the hems
• 6 mm circular needles with 40 cm needle cord for the sleeves
• 7 mm circular (or DPN) needles with 80-120 cm needle cord for the body
Size XL has not been tested.
Size grid: Bust circumference | Sweater circumference | Sleeve circumference | Sweater length:
S (75–90 cm / 29.5–35.4 inches) | 102.4 cm (40.3 inches) | 40.5 cm (15.9 inches) | 63.6 cm (25 inches)
M (90–105 cm / 35.4–41.3 inches) | 120 cm (47.2 inches) | 44 cm (17.3 inches) | 68 cm (26.8 inches)
L (105–120 cm / 41.3–47.2 inches) | 137.4 cm (54.1 inches) | 46.3 cm (18.2 inches) | 74.4 cm (29.3 inches)
XL (130–145 cm / 51.2–57.1 inches) | 161.3 cm (63.5 inches) | 49.8 cm (19.6 inches) | 81.8 cm (32.2 inches)
The pattern is designed to give you about 30 cm of positive ease. For example, if the bust circumference is 90 cm, then knit size M, the width of the sweater on the bust will be 120 cm.
Yardage:
S = 1200 m / 1313 yards
M = 1350 m / 1477 yards
L = 1600 m / 1750 yards
XL = 1850 m / 2023 yards
Skills needed to knit this sweater: You should be able to read knitting charts using standard knitting symbols and be familiar with cable knitting techniques (3/3 RC , 3/3 LC). You should know: knitting in the round; flat knitting; casting on (+ loop cast on); picking up sts; binding off (elastic binding off); increases: m1r, m1l, m1rp, m1lp; brioche stitch; seed stitch.
