Sometimes, what you need for Spring isn’t a strappy camisole, or a t-shirt, or a sundress… but just a lightweight sweater. A sweater that adds a little warmth, but doesn’t bring on that ‘for goodness sake it’s April and I’m STILL wearing woolly jumpers‘ feeling. Us Brits know that feeling all too well. Summer sweaters are a wardrobe staple in my book, so I thought it was about time I designed a 2021 version. Meet the Erinome sweater, the breeziest, lightest Spring knit you ever did see. I’ve already worn it for a wander along the beach in Wales (a getaway! hours from home! what a thrill) and for several days chilling in the garden. I’m fairly confident my Erinome sweater will be in constant rotation until September, and then again from every April to September in years to come.
Scroll down for details and to purchase the Erinome Sweater knitting pattern
The details
The Erinome Sweater is worked seamlessly from the top down, with a drop shoulder construction. Elongated stitches are worked at intervals throughout the body and all over the sleeves. Whilst the overall shape is boxy, the cuffs and waistband are nipped in with dramatic gathers, and the front ties can be adjusted to fit however snugly you’d like.
A laceweight sweater
Laceweight sweater sounds slightly daunting, right? However, my plan for the Erinome sweater was to create a floaty item that knit up way faster than you’d expect for a laceweight sweater (as reported by test knitters, not just me!). Because they’re absolutely delightful to wear, just not so delightful to knit when each stitch is miniscule. Enter the elongated stitches – a super simple technique that produces an interesting fabric whilst also making your knitting grow at double speed. Summer fibres – like the linen in The Fibre Company Meadow that I used – can often make for quite weighty items that don’t hold their shape, so this was another reason to keep the fabric open and airy. The finer the yarn, the more metres per 100g, and the more bang for your buck, so laceweight sweaters are also a great way of making a garment out of only a couple of skeins. Have I convinced you yet? For what it’s worth, this particular yarn is described as a ‘heavy lace’, which is described by other brands as a ‘light fingering’, and some testers just used a regular fingering weight. Skinny yarn that meets the gauge, basically.
Test knitter roundup
I couldn’t be happier with how all these test knits turned out! Once again, all the test knitters did an amazing job of making this sweater their own and helping me finesse the pattern. I always find it so interesting to see the colours and yarns people choose – every single one suits the individual so perfectly and it’s fun to see how different the same design can seem when knitted in different yarns and worn by a different person. Huge thank you once again guys!
ERINOME SWEATER DETAILS
YARN: heavy lace / light fingering weight yarn, approximately 916 (1020; 1139; 1256; 1381) [1509; 1644; 1779; 1920] metres / 1003 (1116; 1246; 1374; 1511) [1651; 1799; 1947; 2102] yards.
Sample shown in The Fibre Company Meadow in shade Red Clover (40% Merino, 25% baby llama, 20% silk, 15% linen). If using this yarn, you will need 2 (3; 3; 3; 3) [4; 4; 4; 4] skeins.
Note: for my size 2 sample, I actually only used 2 skeins, but had very little leftover. Adding the standard 5% to my yardage calculations bumped this up to 3 skeins. However if you’re willing to play yarn chicken as I did, 2 should just about do it.
GAUGE: 21 stitches and 32 rows to 4 inches / 10cm in stocking stitch on 3.75mm needles, blocked.
NEEDLES & NOTIONS: 3.75mm circular needles for main body and sleeves (suggested 24” / 60 cm for body and 16” for sleeves)
3.25mm needles for cuffs, neckband, and waistband (must be long circular needle for waistband to go around bend, suggested length 40” / 100cm)
Waste yarn & tapestry needle
SIZING:1 (2; 3; 4; 5) [6; 7; 8; 9] detailed below, designed to be worn with between 10 – 12 inches / 25 – 30 cm positive ease. Sample shown is a size 2 worn on a 34” bust with around 10” / 25 cm positive ease.
To fit bust: 28-30 (32-34; 36-38; 40-42; 44-46) [48-50; 52-54; 56-58; 60-62] inches / 71-76 (81-86; 91-97; 102-107; 112-117) [122-127; 132-137; 142-147; 152-157] cm.
Finished bust: 40 (44; 48; 52; 56) (60; 64; 68; 72) inches / 102 (112; 122; 132; 142) (152; 163; 173; 183) cm.
NOTES
Construction: the Erinome Sweater is worked seamlessly from the top down with dropped shoulders, a tie waistband, and gathered cuffs.
Yarn choices: a heavy laceweight or light fingering weight yarn is knitted to a loose gauge for an airy fabric. The sample yarn used is a combination of animal and plant fibres with a good amount of drape. It is worth keeping in mind that a heavier yarn will make for a weightier fabric, therefore you may need to shorten the body and sleeves to account for stretching.
I LOVE seeing people knit my patterns and make them their own – if you could tag @lilykatemakes and #ErinomeSweater on Instagram that would be great!
The Erinome Sweater knitting pattern is also available via Ravelry and Etsy.
Lily Kate x
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