The Biella Sweater is a close-fitting sweater worked top-down on 3.5 mm needles, entirely in 2x2 rib. It has decorative raglan increases and decreases on the forearms and can be worn either with negative or neutral ease, depending on your preference. The pattern contains detailed guidance on picking the best size for you.

Materials and Fit

Notions: 3.5 mm circular needles. You may find a 40 cm needle useful for the collar and sleeves, a 60 cm needle for the yoke, and an 80 or 100 cm needle for the body. However, if you are comfortable with the Magic Loop technique, you could also just use the 80 or 100 cm needle for the whole project. Whatever works best for you!

You will also need 8 stitch markers, one of which should be in a contrasting colour to indicate the beginning of the round, a darning needle, and some spare needles/scrap yarn/stitch holders where the stitches of the sleeves will rest.

Yarn: Approximately 9 (9-10) 9-10 (10) 11 (11-12) 12 (12-13) 13 (14-15) skeins of Cardiff Cashmere Classic (112m per 25g). The sample garment was made with the shade 687 Zen. Any DK yarn/combination of yarns suitable for 3.5-4.5 mm needles should work. The second rust-coloured sample garment is knit with Filcolana Arwetta Classic held together with a strand of Sandnes Garn Tynn Silk Mohair in the shades 352 Red Squirrel and 3554 Rust respectively.

Tension: 26 sts x 34 rows in 2x2 rib stitch on 3.5 mm needles. As 2x2 rib stitch is very stretchy and relaxes with blocking, it’s really important to wash and block your swatch and use this for the basis of your measurement before you cast on. The sizing for this sweater is based around the blocked fabric, so you may end up with an ill-fitting sweater if you skip this step.

The pattern contains descriptions of the techniques used in the construction of the sweater, as well as links to more detailed video tutorials.

This pattern is appropriate for intermediate level knitters. It is not overly technical; if you can work left- and right-leaning increases and decreases, you will be just fine. The difficultly comes from the needle size and the sheer amount of knitting involved! This may be a great project to cast on at the start of spring so that it is ready for you next winter.

For pattern support, please email the.knit.purl.girl2020@gmail.com. I am not able to reply to Instagram DMs asking for pattern support.