Thursday 7 September 2017

New design: From Breton with Love

You may remember earlier in the year I shared my tale of woe about a jumper that I managed to scorch while I was blocking it in the sun? Well, over the past few months I have reknitted the sample, finished writing up the pattern and had it tested, and last weekend I finally got round to taking some photos of it in the last of the summer sun. So here is my latest pattern: From Breton with Love.


The inspiration for this sweater is obvious: from Breton with Love is inspired by my day to day wardrobe, which features an awful lot of Breton-striped t-shirts. One day I decided that it would be really cute if my daughter could almost but not quite match me when we're out and about, and this is what I came up with. While I was researching Breton stripes and their history I learnt that the wider (white) stripes should be 2 cm wide, and the narrower (blue) stripes 1 cm wide, which would have worked with the gauge for this pattern, but only if you changed colours at three row intervals, which any knitter will tell you is a pain! So I've gone with the correct ratio, but much more sensible 4 and 2 row stripes.

The jumper is knitted in pieces from the bottom up; the neckline is knitted on in the round after seaming the shoulders of the jumper. The heart motif is added using the intarsia technique. The pattern for the intarsia section is provided both as a chart and as written instructions - this pattern could be knitted by an ambitious beginner.


The jumper is knitted in DK weight yarn, making it an excellent lightweight jumper for spring and autumn, or as a layering piece in winter. The blue sample is knitted in Stylecraft Life DK* (75% wool, 25% acrylic, 298 m [325 yds] per 100 g ball) and the white sample is knitted in Patons Merino Extrafine DK* (100% virgin wool, 120 m [131 yds] per 50 g ball). 

The pattern is written in 6 sizes (ages 2 to 12 years), to fit chest sizes 53 cm [20.75 in] to 76 cm [30 in] with 5 cm [2 in] positive ease.

Fancy getting From Breton with Love straight on to your needles? You can pick up the pattern from my Ravelry store from today, and if you use the code CLASSIC before 11.59pm BST Thursday 21st September 2017 you can have a 20% discount (or click here to buy the pattern).

*Affiliate links.

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