by Alison Green

My favorite kinds of sweaters to knit are those that have just enough knitterly details to keep me interested, but with plenty of mindless areas to make it easy. That's one of the reasons that I love knitting yoke sweaters -- you can add a little bit of patterning at the edges and the yoke, while keeping most of the sweater in simple, easy stockinette.

While I've done plenty of yoke sweaters with stranded colorwork, and a few with cables, I had never used a lace pattern on a yoke before. For this breezy spring/summer cardigan, thought a simple lace pattern would be perfect.

I adapted this lace stitch from one of my favorite Japanese stitch dictionaries, modifying the pattern so that the yarn overs and decreases are worked on the right side rows only. Perhaps it's because I recently moved to the Ocean State that it reminds me of undulating waves or sailboats.

Lorinda is knit in one piece from the bottom up and is completely seamless.

SIZE
Women's XS[S, M, L, 1X, 2X, 3X]
shown in size S with 1 inch of positive ease

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest: 30[34, 38.75, 42.75, 47.5, 51.5, 56.25] inches (not including buttonbands)
Length: 21.75[22.5, 23.5, 24.5, 26, 27, 27.5] inches

MATERIALS
Yarn
Berroco Fiora [40% Cotton, 30% Viscose, 15% Alpaca, 10% Nylon, 5% Wool; 246yds/225m per 100g skein]; color: #3812 Tybee; 4[5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8] skeins

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below -- every knitter's gauge is unique]
US #6/4mm circular needle, 32 inches or longer
US #6/4mm needles for small circumferences in the round: set of five DPNs, 1 long circular for Magic Loop, or 2 short circulars (for sleeves)
US #4/3.5mm 24-inch long circular needle for neckband and buttonbands

Notions
scrap yarn
2 stitch markers
3[3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4] removable stitch markers
3[3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4] 1/2 inch (12mm) buttons
yarn needle

GAUGE

PATTERN NOTES
[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

Lace Pattern 1 [worked flat; multiple of 12 sts +1]:
Row 1 [RS]: *K1, yo, k4, SK2P, k4, yo; rep from * to last st, k1.
Row 2 and all WS rows: Purl.
Row 3: *K2, yo, k3, SK2P, k3, yo, k1; rep from * to last st, k1.
Row 5: *K3, yo, k2, SK2P, k2, yo, k2; rep from * to last st, k1.
Row 7: *K4, yo, k1, SK2P, k1, yo, k3; rep from * to last st, k1.
Row 9: *K5, yo, SK2P, yo, k4; rep from * to last st, k1.
Rows 11 and 12: Purl.

Lace Pattern 1 [worked in the round, multiple of 12 sts]
Rnd 1: *K1, yo, k4, SK2P, k4, yo; rep from * to end.
Rnd 2 and all even rnds: Knit.
Rnd 3: *K2, yo, k3, SK2P, k3, yo, k1; rep from * to end.
Rnd 5: *K3, yo, k2, SK2P, k2, yo, k2; rep from * to end.
Rnd 7: *K4, yo, k1, SK2P, k1, yo, k3; rep from * to end.
Rnd 9: *K5, yo, SK2P, yo, k4; rep from * to end.
Rnd 11: Purl.

Lace Pattern 2 [worked flat; multiple of 10 sts +1]
Row 1 [RS]: *K1, yo, k3, SK2P, k3, yo; rep from * to last st, k1.
Row 2 and all WS rows: Purl.
Row 3: *K2, yo, k2, SK2P, k2, yo, k1; rep from * to last st, k1.
Row 5: *K3, yo, k1, SK2P, k1, yo, k2; rep from * to last st, k1.
Row 7: *K4, yo, SK2P, yo, k3; rep from * to last st, k1.
Rows 9 and 10: Purl.

DIRECTIONS

Purl 4 rows.

Row 1 [RS]: Work Row 1 of Lace Pattern 1 to end.

Cont in Lace Pattern 1 through Row 12 of patt, then work Rows 1-11 of pattern once more.

Next row [WS]: P10[10, 13, 10, 11, 14, 13], *p2tog, p19[17, 19, 18, 20, 18, 20]; rep from * to last 12[12, 15, 11, 12, 15, 14] sts, p2tog, purl to end. 161[183, 207, 229, 253, 275, 299] sts.

Knit 1 row.

Shape waist:
Next row [WS]: P39[42, 51, 59, 62, 71, 77], pm, p83[99, 105, 111, 129, 133, 145], pm, purl to end.
Dec row [RS]: *Knit to 3 sts before m, ssk, k1, sl m, k1, k2tog, rep from * once more, knit to end. 4 sts dec'd.
Cont in St st, rep dec row every 8[8, 8, 8, 10, 10, 10] rows 1[1, 1, 1, 3, 2, 2] time(s) more, then every 10[10, 10, 10, 0, 12, 12] rows 2[2, 2, 2, 0, 1, 1] time(s) more. 145[167, 191, 213, 237, 259, 283] sts.

Work 13 rows (approx. 2 inches) even in St st, ending after a WS row.

Inc row [RS]: *Knit to 1 st before m, M1L, k1, sl m, k1, M1R; rep from * once more, knit to end. 4 sts inc'd.
Rep Inc row every 14[14, 14, 16, 16, 18, 18] rows twice more. 157[179, 203, 225, 249, 271, 295] sts.

Work even in St st until pieces measures 15[15, 15.5, 15.5, 16, 16.5, 16.5] inches from cast-on, ending after a WS row. Set BODY aside.

SLEEVES (make 2)
With DPNs or circular(s), CO 72[72, 72, 72, 84, 96, 96] sts. Join to work in the rnd and pm for beg of rnd.

Rnd 1: Purl.
Rnd 2: Knit.
Rep last 2 rnds twice more.

Work Rnds 1-11 of Lace Pattern 1.

Next rnd: *K2tog, k16[16, 16, 16, 19, 22, 22]; rep from * to end. 68[68, 68, 68, 80, 92, 92] sts.

Work even in St st until sleeve measures 5 inches from cast-on.

Sizes XS & 2X ONLY:
Dec rnd: K1, k2tog, knit to last 3 sts, ssk, k1.

Sizes M, L, 1X & 3X ONLY:
Inc rnd: K1, M1R, knit to last st, M1L, k1. 2 sts inc’d.
Cont in St st, rep Inc rnd every -[-, 0, 8, 8, -, 8] rnds -[-, 0, 3, 2, -, 2] times more.

All sizes:
66[68, 70, 76, 86, 90, 98] sts.

Work even in St st until sleeve measures 12[12, 12, 12, 12.5, 13, 13] inches from cast-on, ending last round 3[4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11] sts before end of round. Place next 6[8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 22] sts on scrap yarn, removing marker. 60[60, 60, 64, 70, 72, 76] sts remain.

Yoke
With larger circular needle(s) and with RS of BODY facing, knit across BODY to 3[4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11] sts before marker. Place next 6[8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 22] sts on scrap yarn, removing marker. Knit across 60[60, 60, 64, 70, 72, 76] sts from first sleeve. Knit across BODY sts to 3[4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11] sts before next marker. Place next 6[8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 22] sts on scrap yarn, removing marker. Knit across 60[60, 60, 64, 70, 72, 76] sts from second sleeve. Knit across rem sts of BODY to end of row. 265[283, 303, 329, 357, 379, 403] sts.

Work in St st until Yoke measures 0.75[1.5, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5] inches, ending after a WS row and decreasing 0[6, 2, 4, 8, 6, 6] sts evenly on last row. 265[277, 301, 325, 349, 373, 397] sts.

Purl 4 rows.

Work Rows 1-11 of Lace Pattern 1.

Dec row 1 [WS]: *P5, p3tog, p4; rep from * to last st, p1. 221[231, 251, 271, 291, 311, 331] sts.

Work Rows 1-10 of Lace Pattern 2.

Dec row 2 [RS]: [K1, k2tog] to last 2[0, 2, 1, 0, 2, 1] st(s), k2[0, 2, 1, 0, 2, 1]. 148[154, 168, 181, 194, 208, 221] sts.

Work even in St st until yoke measures 5.75[6.5, 7, 7.25, 8.25, 8.75, 9.25] inches, ending after a WS row.

Dec row 3 [RS]: [K1, k2tog] to last 1[1, 0, 1, 2, 1, 2] st(s), k1[1, 0, 1, 2, 1, 2]. 99[103, 112, 121, 130, 139, 148] sts.

Sizes L, 1X, 2X, and 3X ONLY:
Work even in St st for 5 rows (approx. .75 inches), ending after a WS row.
Dec row 4 [RS]: K-[-, -, 9, 16, 9, 9], *k2tog, k-[-, -, 18, 30, 15, 6]; rep from * -[-, -, 4, 2, 6, 15] times more, k2tog, knit to end. -[-, -, 115, 126, 131, 131] sts.

All Sizes:
Work even until yoke measures 6.25[7, 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10, 10.5] inches, ending after a WS row.

Change to smaller needle.
Knit 6 rows.
Bind off all sts knit-wise.

FINISHING

Buttonband:
With smaller needle and with RS facing, pick up and knit 114[118, 123, 129, 137, 142, 144] sts (approx. 3 sts for every 4 rows) along Left Front edge.
Knit 7 rows.
Bind off.
Mark placement of 3[3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4] buttons, one at the bottom of the lace on the yoke, one approx. 1 inch below the neck bind off, and the other remaining button(s) spaced evenly between them.

Buttonhole band:
With smaller needle and with RS facing, pick up and knit 114[118, 123, 129, 137, 142, 144] sts (approx. 3 sts for every 4 rows) along Right Front edge.
Knit 3 rows.
Next row [RS]: Knit to position of next marker on buttonband, yo, k2tog; rep from * 2[2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3] times more, knit to end.
Knit 3 rows more.
Bind off.

Join underarm sts using kitchener stitch or 3-needle bind off.

Weave in ends and block to measurements.

Alison is part of the design team at Berroco yarns, and lives in Providence, RI. She has been working in the knitting industry as a designer, teacher and technical editor since 2002.

You'll find more of her work on Ravelry.