Knit a Pastel Plaid Sweater

There’s just something about plaid that makes it a classic for any time of year in just about any colors you can imagine.

The lines on the Piet Sweater from kolibri by johanna give a modern take on plaid with bright, poppy colors and a hint of pastel.

The project is worked with two fingering weight yarns held together (an alpaca and a mohair for a bit of fuzz) or you can use any DK weight yarn that gets you the correct gauge.

The pattern is worked from the top down, mostly in the round, and uses short row shaping to shape the sleeves, which are knit directly onto the body and cuffed with ribbing to emphasize the balloon shape.

Horizontal stripes are knit as you go, while the vertical stripes are added at the end with a crochet hook.

It is meant to be oversized but also cropped, though you can adjust the length if you like.

The pattern comes in seven sizes, and uses a main color and four contrasting colors. The actual chest measurement of the finished sweater ranges from 41 to 55.5 inches, or 104-141 cm, and is meant to be worn with 6 to 8 inches/15 to 20 cm of positive ease.

The designer rates the project as for advanced knitters, but if you have some garments under your belt and are comfortable with short rows and a little bit of crochet you should be fine.

The pattern is available in English, French and German on Ravelry. There’s also a cardigan version of the same style of sweater if you’d rather have a cardigan than a pullover. The sample of that one has a much more toned down, pastel color palette so it’s interesting to see how the pattern looks in different yarns. (There are quite a few projects for both sweaters on Ravelry if you want to see how it works in different colors.)

Photo: kolibri by johanna

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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