Knit a Sweater Inspired by Fast Fashion

I love a design with a good origin story. This one goes like this: Berroco released a rectangular shawl/wide scarf pattern called Ludlow, and a lot of knitters wanted to know about the sweater the model was wearing. It turned out the original was from Target, but designer Alison Green got on the case to re-create the sweater for knitters.

The result is Sydney, a scoop-neck, drop shoulder design with a pretty allover seeded rib pattern.

The design is worked flat in pieces that are sewn together at the end, and the shoulders are shaped using short rows. That makes it more of an intermediate pattern, but if you’re comfortable with short rows its otherwise a pretty straightforward project.

The pattern is available in 12 sizes, with bust measurements ranging from 35.5 to 77 inches (or 90 to 195.5 centimeters). The sweater is meant to be worn with around 4 to 6 inches (or 10 to 15 centimeters) of positive ease.

Sydney uses the same yarn as the original scarf pattern, called Berroco Renew. It’s a combination of viscose, wool, nylon and cashmere that’s a DK weight and comes in 18 colors. If you don’t have access to this yarn, I’m sure this sweater would be lovely in a range of different fibers.

You can get the pattern free from Berroco. (Ludlow, linked above, is also free; it’s a charted cabled pattern they call a scarf but it’s really wide so I’m calling it a shawl. Whatever.)

Want to play with more ribbing patterns? I’ve got a collection of easy ribbed knitting patterns you can try, which includes everything from a scarf and a hat to socks and a tank top. And while we’re talking about ribbing tricks, I can’t help but remind you of cartridge belt rib, which is a special kind of ribbing pattern that doesn’t use any purls (you slip the stitches that would be purled with the yarn in front instead).

[Photo: Berroco]

Bluebell Cardigan Knitting Pattern

Knit the Perfect Argyle Cardigan

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts.

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts.

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects.

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version.

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want.

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do.

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like.

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.

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