INTRODUCTION

Town Beach

by Pam Sluter

I am the type of person who always tends to be cold. Even in the middle of summer, I don’t leave home without some kind of sweater.

This design was inspired by my desire to have a lightweight cardigan that I could bring along to throw on during trips to the overly air conditioned grocery store or when the temps start to dip in early evening.

I chose to use Berrocco Remix yarn in two of my favorite colors, grey and blue (ensuring it will match everything in my wardrobe). It is a blend of recycled machine washable fibers (nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk and linen) that combine to create a lovely, warm-weather cardigan.

Garter stitch is used at the cuffs and front bands. The body is worked in one piece from the bottom up. Sleeves are worked flat separately and set in. The hood is knit using stitches left on a holder from working the body. Front bands are picked up and knit. Intarsia is used for the color blocking on the body of the sweater. Three buttons near the top allow for the sweater to be closed.

model: Pam Sluter

photos: Steve Sluter

SIZE

XS[S, M, L, 1X, 2X, 3X]

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Bust: 30.5[34.75, 38.5, 42.75, 46.5, 50.75, 54.75] inches/ 77.5[88.5, 98, 108.5, 118, 129, 139] cm (buttoned)
Length from Shoulder: 21.5[22.5, 23.5, 24, 25, 25.5, 26] inches/ 54.5[57, 59.5, 61, 63.5, 65, 66] cm

MATERIALS

Yarn
Berroco Remix [30% nylon, 27% cotton, 24% acrylic, 10% silk, 9% linen; 216yd/200m per 100g skein];
[MC] Smoke; 3[3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6] skeins
[CC] Old Jeans; 3[3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5] skeins

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below - every knitter's gauge is unique]
1 24-inch (60 cm) or longer US #7/4.5mm circular needle

Notions
stitch holders or waste yarn
3 3/4-inch (19mm) buttons
2 stitch markers
3 locking stitch markers or pins to mark button placement
yarn needle

GAUGE

18 sts/24 rows = 4 inches/10 cm in stockinette stitch

PATTERN NOTES

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

This pattern uses intarsia. In order to avoid holes at the color changes, it is necessary to interlock the yarns at the color changes as follows:
On RS rows: Bring working yarn to the back, pick up next color, passing it under the strand of the previous color before bringing it to the front to work the next stitch.
On WS rows: Drop working yarn. Pick up next color, bringing it under the previous color to work the net stitch.

I chose to work each of the color sections from separate balls of yarn (3 balls of CC and 2 balls of MC at a time) in order to have fewer tails to weave in. If this is too cumbersome, you can wind yarn into smaller butterflies.

The body is worked in one piece to the armhole, then separated for the fronts and back.

The front bands are worked in two halves after the hood is knit and sweater is seamed. This was done to avoid having a lot of stitches to pick up and also to make buttonhole placement easier. I wrote the directions for the buttonhole placement to allow for individual preferences to be addressed. It’s easier to figure out where you want buttons if you have one of the bands knit and a sweater to try on!

Garter Stitch:
Knit every row.

DIRECTIONS

Body
With MC, CO 130[150, 166, 186, 202, 222, 240] sts.
Work in garter stitch for 3[3, 3, 3, 3.5, 3.5, 3.5] inches/ 7.5[7.5, 7.5, 7.5, 9, 9, 9] cm.
Break yarn.

Set-up row [RS]: With CC, k 19[22, 24, 28, 30, 33, 37] , pm, join MC and k 12[14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22] in MC, pm for side "seam," k 12[14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22] in MC, pm, join second ball of CC and k 44[50, 54, 62, 66, 72, 78] in CC, pm, join second ball of MC and k 12[14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22] in MC, pm for side "seam," k 12[14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22] in MC, pm, join third ball of CC and k 19[22, 24, 28, 30, 33, 37] in CC.

Interlocking yarns for intarsia (see Pattern Notes), continue to work in patt as foll:
Next row [WS]: *Purl to next m in CC, (purl to next m in MC) twice; rep from * once more, purl to end in CC.
Next row [RS]: *Knit to next m in CC, (knit to next m in MC) twice; rep from * once more, knit to end in CC.

Cont in St st in MC and CC as est until body measures 13[13.5, 14, 14, 14.5, 14.5, 14.5] inches/ 33[34.5, 35.5, 35.5, 37, 37, 37] cm from CO edge or desired length to armhole, ending after a WS row.

Divide for fronts and back:
Next row [RS]: Patt to side m and place last 31[36, 40, 45, 49, 54, 59] sts worked on holder for Right Front. Remove m. BO 4[4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8] sts, patt to next side m, remove m, place last 31[36, 40, 45, 49, 54, 59] sts of row on holder. Turn work to continue on these 64[74, 81, 90, 97, 106, 114] sts for Back only.

Back
Next row [WS]: BO 4[4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8] sts, patt to end of row. 60[70, 76, 84, 90, 98, 106] sts.

Cont in patt, BO 0[2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2] sts at beg of next 0[2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2] rows. 60[66, 72, 80, 86, 94, 102] sts.

Dec row [RS]: K2, ssk, patt to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2. 2 sts dec'd.
Work 1 WS row even in patt.
Rep last 2 rows 1[1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7] time(s) more. 56[62, 68, 72, 76, 82, 86] sts.

Work even in patt until armhole measures 7.5[8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5] inches/ 19[20.5, 21.5, 23, 24, 25.5, 26.5] cm, ending after a WS row.

Shape shoulders:
Maintaining patt, BO 4[5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7] sts at beg of next 6 rows.
Place remaining 32[32, 32, 36, 40, 40, 44] sts on holder for back neck.

Right Front:
With WS facing, rejoin MC at armhole edge of 31[36, 40, 45, 49, 54, 59] sts held for Right Front.

Next row [WS]: BO 4[4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8] sts, patt to end of row. 27[32, 35, 39, 42, 46, 51] sts.
Work 1 RS row even in patt.
Next row [WS]: BO 0[2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2] sts, patt to end of row. 27[30, 33, 37, 40, 44, 49] sts.

Next row [RS]: Patt to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2. 1 st dec'd.
Work 1 WS row even in patt.
Rep last 2 rows 1[1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7] time(s) more. 25[28, 31, 33, 35, 38, 41] sts.

Work even in patt until armhole measures 5.5[6, 6.5, 6.75, 7, 7.25, 7.75] inches/ 14[15, 16.5, 17, 18, 18.5, 19.5] cm, ending after a WS row.

Shape neck:
Next row [RS]: Patt 10[10, 10, 11, 13, 13, 14] sts and place these sts on holder. Patt to end of row. 15[18, 21, 22, 22, 25, 27] sts.

Maintaining patt, BO 1[1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2] sts at beg of every foll RS row 3[3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3] times. 12[15, 18, 18, 18, 21, 21] sts.

Work even in patt until Right Front measures same as Back to beg of shoulder shaping, ending after a RS row.

Shape shoulder:
Keeping in pattern, BO 4[5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7] sts at beg of next 3 WS rows.

Left Front
With RS facing, rejoin MC at armhole edge of 31[36, 40, 45, 49, 54, 59] sts held for Left Front.

Next row [RS]: BO 4[4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8] sts, patt to end of row. 27[32, 35, 39, 42, 46, 51] sts.
Work 1 WS row even in patt.
Next row [RS]: BO 0[2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2] sts, patt to end of row. 27[30, 33, 37, 40, 44, 49] sts.
Work 1 WS row even in patt.

Next row [RS]: K2, ssk, patt to end. 1 st dec'd.
Work 1 WS row even in patt.
Rep last 2 rows 1[1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7] time(s) more. 25[28, 31, 33, 35, 38, 41] sts.

Work even in patt until armhole measures 5.5[6, 6.5, 6.75, 7, 7.25, 7.75] inches/ 14[15, 16.5, 17, 18, 18.5, 19.5] cm, ending after a RS row.

Shape neck:
Next row [WS]: Patt 10[10, 10, 11, 13, 13, 14] sts and place these sts on holder. Patt to end of row. 15[18, 21, 22, 22, 25, 27] sts.

Maintaining patt, BO 1[1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2] sts beg of every foll WS row 3[3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3] times. 15[15, 18, 18, 18, 21, 21] sts.

Work even in patt until Left Front measures same as Back to beg of shoulder shaping, ending after a WS row.

Shoulder Shaping
Keeping in pattern. BO 4[5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7] sts at beg of next 3 RS rows.

Sleeves (Make 2)
With CC, CO 38[38, 38, 40, 42, 46, 48] sts.
Work in garter stitch for 2.5 inches/6.5 cm. Break CC and join MC.
Beg with a RS row, work in St st for 8[8, 8, 4, 4, 6, 6] rows.

Inc row [RS]: K1, M1L, knit to last st, M1R, k1.
Work even in St st for 9[7, 7, 7, 5, 3, 3] rows.
Rep last 10[8, 8, 8, 6, 4, 4] rows 7[8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 19] times more. 54[56, 60, 64, 72, 80, 88] sts.

Work even in St st until sleeve measures 18.5[19, 19, 19.5, 19.5, 20, 20] inches/ 47[48.5, 48.5, 49.5, 49.5, 51, 51] cm from CO edge or desired length to underarm, ending after a WS row.

Shape cap:
Continue in St st, BO 4[4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8] sts at beg of next 2 rows, then 0[2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2] sts at beg of foll 0[2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2] rows. 46[44, 46, 48, 54, 60, 68] sts.

Dec row [RS]: K2, ssk, knit to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2. 2 sts dec'd.
Purl 1 WS row.
Rep last 2 rows 2[1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2] time(s) more. 40[40, 42, 44, 48, 54, 62] sts.

Rep Dec row.
Work 3 rows even in St st.
Rep last 4 rows 4[4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6] times more, then rep Dec row once more. 28[28, 28, 30, 34, 40, 46] sts.

BO 2[2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4] sts at beg of next 4 rows, then BO rem 20[20, 20, 22, 22, 28, 30] sts.

FINISHING

Block to measurements. Sew shoulder seams.

Hood
With RS facing, CC, and beg at neck edge of Right Front, knit across 10[10, 10, 11, 13, 13, 14] sts on holder, pick up and knit 11[11, 11, 12, 13, 14, 14] sts to shoulder seam, knit 32[32, 32, 36, 40, 40, 44] sts from back neck holder, pick up and knit 11[11, 11, 12, 13, 14, 14] sts to held sts of Left Front, knit across 10[10, 10, 11, 13, 13, 14] sts on holder. 74[74, 74, 82, 92, 94, 100] sts.

Starting with a WS row, work in St st until work measures 11.5 inches/29 cm or 1.75 inches/4.5 cm shorter than desired hood length from pick-up, ending after a RS row.

Shape hood:
Next row [WS]: P 37[37, 37, 41, 46, 47, 50] , pm (half-way point), purl to end of row.
Dec row [RS]: Knit to 3 sts before m, k2tog, k1, sm, k1, ssk, knit to end of row. 2 sts dec'd.
Purl 1 WS row.
Rep last 2 rows 4 times more. 64[64, 64, 72, 82, 84, 90] sts.
BO all sts. Fold BO edge in half and sew seam for top of hood.

Left Front Band
With RS facing, MC, and beg at hood seam, pick up and knit approx. 143[147, 152, 153, 156, 158, 160] sts evenly to CO edge of left front.
Work in garter stitch until band measures 1.5 inches/4 cm from pick-up.
BO all sts knitwise.

With locking markers or pins, mark desired button placement on left front. Sample shows first button 5 inches/13 cm below shoulder, then two more buttons placed at 2 inch/5 cm intervals.

Right Front Band
With RS facing, MC, and starting at CO edge of Right Front, pick up and knit approx. 143[147, 152, 153, 156, 158, 160] sts evenly to hood seam.

Knit 7 rows.

Buttonhole row 1 [RS]: *Knit to desired spot for next buttonhole, BO 2 sts; rep from * twice more, knit to end.
Buttonhole row 2 [WS]: *Knit to next BO gap, CO 2 sts; rep from * twice more, knit to end.
Cont to work even in garter st until band measures 1.5 inches/4 cm from pick-up. BO all sts.

Set in sleeves. Sew sleeve seams. Sew seam where bands meet at top of hood.
Sew on buttons. Weave in ends and block once more.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Pam Sluter is a knitting designer and teacher living in Rhode Island. When she isn’t knitting she enjoys hanging out with her husband, four kids, two dogs and five chickens. She is a member of the Hook and Needle Guild of Rhode Island.

Find her on Ravelry.

Pattern & images © 2016 Pam Sluter. Contact Pam