continuing my obsessions with knitting and stripes, i put together this knit cotton sweater pattern.  it’s meant to be a bit oversized and slouchy, and short sleeved for the summertime.  i have to admit though that after knitting it up, i was really excited to wear it and actually haven’t blocked it yet.  which means it’s going to grow a bit more, which is good since i intended it to be a bit looser fit. read down below for the pattern.

also, the sweater was the perfect thing to wear with these amazing bell bottom jeans from j brand.  i swear i feel like anything looks good as soon as you add these jeans into the mix.  they are super high-waisted, and super long, so they create this crazy silhouette.  i feel like a 70s illustration from the front of a sewing pattern.  i’ve never gotten so many compliments on a pair of jeans before, as i do with these.

in any case, back to the sweater!  i was originally inspired by this sweater from madewell, and it’s such a simple design i felt like i could whip it up pretty quickly.  and i love it because it’s knit mostly in the round, and there is no seaming! 

Materials

• Size 9 needles - 32” circular
• Knit Picks Simply Cotton Worsted yarn in Camel Heather - 2.5 skeins (color A)
• Knit Picks Simply Cotton Worsted yarn in Prussian Heather - 1 skein (color B)
• 2 stitch markers
• scrap yarn or stitch holder

 
Gauge
 

• Blocked Gauge: 4” = 13.67 sts, 22.5 rows

• Unblocked Gauge: 4” = 15.67 sts, 20.83 rows

Stockinette Stitch

In the round: Knit all stitches

Flat:

RS - knit row

WS - purl row

Notes

• The sweater is knit from the bottom up in the round, until the bottom of the arm opening.  Then the front and back are split, with the back stitches put on a stitch holder (or scrap yarn) while the front is worked flat.  Then the back is worked flat.  Then the shoulder seams are bound off together with a 3 needle bind off, leaving the center stitches bound off separately.  No seaming necessary!
• Stripes - In general there are 12 rows of color A (tan) and 3 rows of color B (blue).  However, at the top and bottom of the sweater, a set of blue stripes are skipped to give a wider chunk of color A (tan).  So, when you cast on, you’ll actually knit 24 rows of color A before switching to color B.  Then, continue in 12 color A  to 3 color B pattern until you start nearing the top of the shoulder, where you’ll skip the last color B stripe.
• Jogless stripes - I used the stationary method of joining colors to have jogless stripes.  More information can be found on the techknitting blog.  http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/01/jogless-stripes.html

Pattern
BOTTOM
CO 138 sts in color A, join to knit in the round, being careful not to twist stitches.
Place marker between first/last st (PM1) and between sts 69/70 (PM2)
Round 1-4  - *K1, P1, repeat from * across row
Round 5-76 - knit in stockinette st (add or decrease # of rounds here if you want to make it longer or shorter)
At the same time, switch colors for the stripes.  The first 24 rows are worked in color A, then 3 rows of color B.  Afterwards, work 12 rows in color A then 3 of color B.

Round 77 (round 5 of color A) - increase row:   slip M, k1, m1R, knit to 1 st before next marker, m1L,  k1, SM, k1, m1R, knit to 1 st before M, m1L, k1 (142 sts)
round 78 (round 6 of color A) - knit

Split front and back
Next row - (row 7 of color A) - knit from first to 2nd marker (this will be your front - 71 sts); place all sts from 2nd M to end of round on a stitch holder (this will be your sweater back - 71 sts).

FRONT
row 2 - purl row (keeping in stockinette st worked flat)
row 3 (row 9 of color A) - increase row - k1, m1R, knit to 1 st before last st, m1L,  k1 (73 sts)
row 4 - purl
row 5 - knit
row 6 - purl
row 7 - (row 1 of color B) - increase row - k1, m1R, knit to 1 st before last st, m1L,  k1 (75 sts)
row 8-46 - work in stockinette stitch flat
(This will be about 9 inches from the split in the underarm seam.)
This covers 2 more blue stripes, but skip the last set of blue stripes.
Put sts on holder
    (Note - after the split, when switching colors, when switching back to color A, if you’re on a circular needle, slide your sts over to the other side of the needle so you don’t have to break your color A yarn…you can just carry it up…but just make sure you continue working in stockinette st).  

BACK
add sts of back from holder to needles, positioning needles to start with the KNIT row.  setup row 1- knit this row.
follow instructions for FRONT.  

SHOULDER & BIND OFF
Use 3 needle bind off for the first 19 sts to create a should seam.  Bind off middle 38 sts in opposite of stockinette st.  Bind off remaining 19 sts in 3 needle bind off for other shoulder seam.

Block sweater.

sweater handknit by me, jbrand kiki jeans in pure (c/o), rosegold wedges, vintage purse, KISS sunglasses