Once upon a time my sister and I had the great fortune to go on a knitting cruise to Alaska. It was on that trip where I was first introduced to vertical-stranded colorwork by Lorilee Beltman. Here the technique is used to emphasize the yoke of this warm, comfy pullover.

Colorado State Senator Sonya Lewis is modeling her sweater, knitted up in “Alpaca Elegance” by Green Mountain Spinnery. A mini-skein of “Alegria Grande Brocados” by Manos del Uruguay is used for the trim work.

Yarn suggestions
Any DK (size 3) or Worsted Weight (size 4) yarn will work well. Select a nice bright contrasting color for the trim!

Construction
The body was knit in the round to the arm openings and placed on holders after the bind off. The sleeves are knit flat to the arm openings, then loaded onto the needles in preparation for working the yoke. The yoke is worked with evenly spaced vertical-stranded seed ridges.

Recommended Yarn(s)
Alpaca Elegance in Lavender Cream
Alegria Grande Brocados in Magenta

Fit
This project is proportioned for women. It is designed to layer comfortably, with 2.5-5 in (6-13 cm) of positive ease.

Recommended Tension/Gauge
Tension, or gauge, is actually determined from your swatches. To give you an idea of tension, the designer swatched “alpine banding” using US 8 needles and found the gauge to be 4.5 sts and 7.5 rows per in.