Sweetness Pullover (Free Women's Sweater Pattern)

YARN
Sport (#2 Fine)
Shown here: Madelinetosh Tosh Sport (100% superwash merino wool; 270 yd [247m]/100 g): Cloak (A) 4 (4, 5, 5, 6) skeins; Pop Rocks (B), 1 skein; Maple Leaf Green (C), 1 skein.
 
NEEDLES
Body: Size U.S. 4 (3.5 mm): 24" (60 cm) circular needle (cir) and set of 4 double-pointed (dpn).
Ribbing: Size U.S. 3 (3.25 mm): 24" (60 cm) cir and set of 4 dpn.
Adjust needle sizes if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
 
NOTIONS
Stitch markers (m)
Stitch holders or waste yarn
Yarn needle
 
GAUGE
20 sts and 30 rnds = 4" (10 cm) in stockinette st.

Notes
 
The sweater is worked from the top down on circular needles. You will begin at the collar and work your way down to the arm level. At the arm level, you will divide the sts for the sleeves and body, and continue to knit down the body to the hem. Then the sts you held for the sleeves at the arm level are rejoined and worked from the top down on double-pointed needles. The top-down construction allows for easy length adjustment. The pattern specifies where you can add or subtract extra length. Notice that the last stitch of the middle dot sequence on the Colorwork Chart is shifted down one row. This is intentional and will reduce the appearance of a jog in the circular colorwork pattern.

Yoke
 
With color A and smaller cir, CO 128 (136, 146, 154, 162) sts. Join to work in the rnd, being careful not to twist sts and place marker (pm) for beg of rnd.
NEXT 4 RNDS: *K1, p1; rep from *.
 
Change to the larger cir and knit 1 rnd.

Raise Back of Neck
 
The back of the neck is raised using short-row shaping (see Techniques). If you prefer a reversible sweater or a lower back, you can skip ahead to the next section.
 
SHORT-ROW 1 (RS): K48 (52, 57, 61, 65), w&t.
SHORT-ROW 2 (WS): Purl to m, w&t;
SHORT-ROW 3 (RS): Knit to wrapped st from the previous row, knit the wrapped st incorporating the wrap, k5, w&t;
SHORT-ROW 4 (WS): Purl to the wrapped st from the previous row, purl the wrapped st incorporating the wrap, p5, w&t;
 
Rep the last 2 short-rows 3 (4, 4, 4, 5) times.

NEXT ROW (RS): Knit to m.
 
NEXT RND: Knit, incorporating the last 2 wraps from the previous short-rows as you pass them.

Shape Yoke
 
The yoke is worked in St st (knit all sts every rnd) and gets its wide conical shape from 4 increase rnds. The increase rnds are placed between 2 sections of Fair Isle color work. Between the color work sections, carry the unused colors along the back side by loosely twisting them together once with the used color at the start of each row.
 
Fair Isle patterns get a small jog at the start of the row when they are worked in the rnd, so the beg of rnds is offset to behind the shoulder for a more attractive look.
MOVE BEG OF RNDS: Remove beg of rnd m, k5 (6, 6, 7, 7), replace m.
Knit 2 rnds.
INC RND 1: K2 (3, 6, 0, 0), *M1, k4 (3, 3, 3, 3), M1, k5 (4, 4, 4, 3); rep from * —156 (174, 186, 198, 216) sts.
Join colors B and C and work Rnds 1–12 of Colorwork Chart.
INC RND 2: With color A, k4 (6, 2, 2, 0), *M1, k4, M1, k4 (4, 4, 3, 4); rep from * —194 (216, 232, 254, 270) sts.
Knit 8 rnds.
INC RND 3: K7 (0, 4, 1, 0), *M1, k5 (6, 6, 5, 5), M1, k6 (6, 6, 6, 5); rep from * —228 (252, 270, 300, 324) sts.
Work Rnds 1–17 of Colorwork Chart. Break colors B and C and cont working the rest of the sweater in color A.
Knit 1 rnd.

This free sweater pattern is excerpted with permission from "Graphic Knits: 20 Designs in Bold, Beautiful Color" by Alexis Winslow (Interweave/F+W; $24.99)