Knitted Weaping Willow Sweater

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This pattern shows you how to make a nice warm sweater for the cold winter days. The combination of silk mohair, the thick Lily yarn and brioche stitch results in an airy, warm sweater.

The sweater is worked from the top down in brioche stitch.

Sizes

S (M) L (XL)

Materials

Needles:

Circular needle 4.5 mm (40 cm)

Circular needle 5.5 mm (40 and 60 cm, 100 cm for sizes L and XL)

Circular needle 7 mm (40 cm) or double pointed needles 7 mm.

Double pointed needles 5 mm

Or the size you need to get the right gauge.

Additional materials: 1 tapestry needle for weaving in the ends

Yarn

Infinity Hearts Lily Made from 70 % Cotton and 30 % Superwash Merino Wool Length: 50 g = approx 100 m.

Mayflower Super Kid Silk  Made from 76 % Mohair and 24 % Silk. Length: 25 g = approx 195 m.

Yarn quantity

Infinity Hearts Lily: 10 (10) 10 (11) balls

Mayflower Kid Silk Mohair: 4 (4) 5 (5) balls

If you use contrasting colours, you need 3 (4) 4 (4) balls of the colour for the body and 1 (1) 2 (2) ball(s) of the colour for the sleeves - i.e. more yarn than if you do not work with contrasting colours).

Gauge:

10 s x 36 rw in brioche stitch with needle 5.5 mm.

15 s x 20 rw in stockinette stitch with needle 7 mm.

Abbreviations

rnd(s) = round(s)

s = stitch(es)

rw = row(s)

inc = increase (increases are used in brioche stitch)

dec = decrease (decreases are used in stockinette stitch)

Technique elaboration

Italian cast on: 

A particular cast on technique that results in a neat round edge. Italian cast on is combined with 2 rw of double knitting.

Picture guide here.

Going from cast on to brioche stitch in the round.

Video guide here.

Brioche stitch:

Wide rib pattern where the s are worked on every other rnd and slipped with yarn over every other rnd.

Picture guide here.

Increasing in brioche stitch:

When increasing in brioche stitch, 2 new s are made, creating 1 extra k s and 1 extra p s for each increase.

Video guide at the bottom here.

Twisted rib:

You can choose to work both the k s and the p s through the back loop, but I usually only work the k s through the back loop.

Video guide here.

Decreasing:

Decrease by knitting 2 s together.

Video guide here.

Pattern

Co 48 (54) 60 (66) s with circular needle 4.5 mm using Italian cast on. After the Italian cast on, work 2 rw in double knitting for stabilisation. See technique elaboration above.

Work 10 (10) 10 (10) cm of brioche stitch in the round.

Change to needle 5.5 mm and work 4 rnds where you begin with a rnd where the k s are worked and end with a rnd where the p s are worked.

Make an inc in the first s (k s with yo) and again after every 5th s (also k s with yo). You now have a total of 8 (9) 10 (11) inc on the rnd.

Work for 3 (3.5) 4 (4.5) cm.

Make an inc in the 3rd s and again after every 7th s.

Work for 3 (3.5) 4 (4.5) cm.

Make an inc in the 5th s (k s) and again after every 9th s (also k s).

Work for 3 (3.5) 4 (4.5) cm.

Make an inc in the 7th s (k s) and again after every 11th s (also k s).

Work for 3 (3.5) 4 (4.5) cm.

Make an inc in the 9th s (k s) and again after every 13th s (also k s).

Work for 3 (3.5) 4 (4.5) cm.

Make an inc in the 11th s (k s) and again after every 15th s (also k s).

Work for 3 (3.5) 4 (4.5) cm.

Make an inc in the 13th s (k s) and again after every 17th s (also k s).

Work for 3 (3.5) 4 (4.5) cm.

Make an inc in the 15th s (k s) and again after every 19th s (also k s).

Work for approx 1 cm. The number of s is now 180 (198) 220 (240).

You now have approx 22 (26.5) 29 (32.5) cm of brioche stitch measured vertically from where you changed the needle size.

Divide the work into body and sleeves.

Work 28 (31) 33 (37) s (first half of the back), place 34 (38) 44 (46) s on a stitch holder (right sleeve), cast on 4 (4) 4 (6) s, work 56 (60) 66 (74) s (front), place 34 (38) 44 (46) s on a stitch holder (left sleeve), cast on 4 (4) 4 (6) s, work 28 (31) 33 (37) s (second half of the back).

Work in brioche stitch on the body for approx 20 (20) 24 (26) cm or until you reach the desired length.

If you want to make the rib pattern in a contrasting colour, change colours now.

Work 4 cm in twisted rib (change to needle 5 mm if you want the rib edge to be more tight).

Bind off - if you want, you can use the Italian bind off technique.

Sleeves:

If you want to make the sleeves in a contrasting colour, change colours now.

With needle 7 mm, pick up 4 (4) 4 (6) s in the 4 (4) 4 (6) new s on the body (you can also choose to pick up 2 extra s, 1 on each side of the 4 (4) 4 (6) s. On the second rnd, these 2 s are k together with the first and last cast on s to avoid holes - find videos about this on YouTube). You now have 38 (42) 48 (52) s. The beginning of the rnd is now placed in the middle of the 4 (4) 4 (6) s you previously cast on.

Work in stockinette stitch for 35 (35) 39 (41) cm or until you reach the desired length.

Change to double pointed needles 5 mm and dec 8 (10) 12 (14) s evenly.

You now have 30 (32) 36 (38) s.

Work 4 cm of twisted rib.

Bind off - if you want, you can use the Italian bind off technique.

Seaming/Finishing:

Weave in the ends and wash the sweater. Your new sweater is now ready to be used. We would love for you to share pictures of your work with #weapingwillowsweater @krea_lea @ritokrea

Designed by: krea_lea (Lea Hansen)