Having been allergic since childhood to wearing anything that resembles a coat I'm always on the look out for a good chunky knit sweater to act as a substitute and I think this one might just be it.

This is a new design from Stylecraft to show off their new Signature Chunky yarn. I haven't done any cabling for quite a while but if the back is anything like the front I'm certain to get plenty of practice with this one.

The yarn itself looks fabulous too and comes in a variety of autumnul and wintry shades, although the general rule with my yarn stash is that 'If it comes in red I'll buy it in red'. So, despite the temptations of Thistle purple and Petrol blue, I feel an overwhelming desire to splash out on a huge order of Autumn red.

I wanted to make myself an off the shoulder sweater but I couldnt find a design I liked so I improvised one. This is a yoked raglan with hems and side panels in 1x1 rib. The central panel of staggered lace fern leaves is framed by stocking stitch. Waist and bust shaping has been done by decreasing and increasing the number of stocking stitches. The body was knit in the round and the sleeves knit flat then joined at the armholes to form the yoke.

This is a very fitted sweater and the pattern notes should be fine for a 32-34 inch bust. If you want to make a large size you will need to add extra stitches either to the ribbed side panels or the stocking stitch panels. If you add them to the ribbed side panels remember to increase by an even number of stitches to accomodate the 1x1 rib pattern. If you have the skills I have also been told you can add short rows to the bust if you just need more room on top. If you're tall or long waisted extra length can be added either side of the waist or bust increases by knitting extra pattern repeats. Extra length can be added to the sleeves by increasing the number of rows between each increase.

What you'll need:

Yarn: between 900 and 1200 meters of DK weight yarn. I used Stylecraft Life DK in burgundy. The sweater itself only used 3 x 298 meter balls but I had to break into a fourth ball for the seams. :-(
Guage: 22 sts x 32 rows per 10cms
Needles: 1 x 3.75mm, 60cms circular needle for the body. 1 Pair of 3.75mm straight needles for the sleeves.
Extras: Stitch markers. Use different colours to mark the lace panel and the raglan decs, row counter, tapestry needle, scissors, scrap yarn, stitch holder.

You can download the pattern notes by clicking on the thumbnail below.