The Anna Sweater features a drop-shoulder construction with a beautiful saddle shoulder detail. It is worked top-down, beginning with the ribbed collar that will be bound off so that the stitches for the shoulder panels can be picked up along the bottom. These display a simple 12-stitch braided cable design. Once the shoulder panels are finished, the front and back will be picked up and knitted flat separately in stockinette stitch before joining in the round to finish the body where the cable detail is shown along the sides as well. The sleeves are worked last. This design uses shaping by picking up one or more stitches per row in various places, as well as some german short rows across the bottom to enhance the fit of the sweater.

Difficulty: Intermediate. The shaping method is pretty unconventional but not overly complicated. I think it is easier to do than short rows, which is why I left them out as much as I could.

Gauge: 16.5 sts x 24 rows per 10 cm / 4 inches in stockinette stitch, worked flat on 5.5 mm (US 9) needles. Remember to wash and block your swatch! My swatch grew a lot and so did the finished sweater.

The Anna Sweater is available in 6 sizes, made to fit a bust circumference of 78 cm / 31 in to 123 cm / 48.5 in.

These sizes are not representative of any general sizes! Due to the way the sweater is constructed, I had to make them specifically for this pattern. Measure yourself and decide based on that and the amount of ease you want.

The sweater is designed to be worn with 22-30 cm / 8.5-12 in of positive ease. My sample (orange/brown) has 26 cm / 10 inches of ease on a 90 cm / 15.5 in chest.

Finished bust circumference for sizes 1 / 2 / 3 (4 / 5 / 6):
108 / 115 / 122 (129 / 139 / 146) cm or
42.5 / 45.5 / 48 (51 / 55 / 58) in

To fit a bust measurement of
78-85 / 86-92 / 93-100 (101-108 / 109-116 / 117-123) cm or
31-33.5 / 34-36 / 36.5-39 (39.5-42.5 / 43-45.5 / 46- 48.5) in

Finished length:
55 / 56 / 56 (58 / 58 / 61) cm or
21.5 / 22 / 22 (22.5 / 22.5 / 24) inches
The length can be adapted in steps of 3.5 cm / 1.5 in.

The sweater is knitted with a worsted weight yarn. I recommend you use the Tweed Delight and Soft Alpaca Lace yarns held together, both are from Hobbii. Some great alternatives are Drops Air or Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed, which were used by a few test knitters.
You will need approximately 950 / 1000 / 1050 (1150 / 1200 / 1350) m or 1000 / 1100 / 1150 (1250 / 1300 / 1450) yds. Keep in mind that these are only estimates. You might need more if you add length to the sleeves and/or body.

Materials other than yarn include:

• 5.5 mm (US 9) and 4.5 mm (US 7) circular needles with a cord to fit the circumference of you body, as well as a 40 cm / 16 in cord or DPNs in both sizes for the sleeves and collar
• one 5.5mm (US 9) DPN or short circular needle for the shaping of the shoulder panels
• a darning needle and a few stitch markers
• if you are using the recommended yarn or any other lightly spun / unspun yarn, you may want to use a yarn of similar weight and colour with more stability for the tubular bind-off sections. It doesn’t have to be an exact match but can save you a lot of trouble.

Happy knitting!