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Brusca pullover borrows its name from the name of the yarn it’s made with — Brusca by Retrosaria. In many languages rooted in Latin it means “sharp, sudden, abrupt”. I think it suits the design perfectly — the strong contrast of the colourwork, the sharp transition from wide to tapered sleeve, the unusual hemmed neck detail. It’s not quiet, it’s loud and it flew off my needles in just a week.

The pullover is knit top-down in the round with a stranded colourwork pattern around the yoke and at the bottom of the sleeves. The body is boxy and the sleeves are loose around the arms and tapered towards the cuffs. The neck is folded inwards and sts for the ribbing are picked up from the fold.

You can take a closer look at my sample and discover the design process in this episode of my podcast.

Sizes

• The pattern is written for nine sizes 1 (2, 3, 4, 5) (6, 7, 8, 9) with a finished bust circumference of ca. 80 (90, 100, 110, 120)
(130, 140, 150, 160) cm // 32 (36, 40, 44, 48) 
(52, 56, 60, 64) in incl. ca. 10 cm (4 in) of the recommended positive ease.
• The sample is shown oversized in size 2 on a 160 cm (5.3 ft) tall model with 84 cm (33 in) bust circumference.

For more of the finished garment measurements, please refer to the schematic.

Yarn

• MC: ca. 260 (280, 310, 350, 380) (425, 455, 490, 520) g or 6 (6, 7, 7, 8) (9, 10, 10, 11) skeins of Brusca, 
100% Portuguese wool, with 125 m (137 yds) in 50 g, 
shown in colourway A;

or ca. 650 (700, 775, 875, 950) (1063, 1138, 1225, 1300) m // 711 (766, 848, 957, 1039) (1162, 1244, 1340, 1422) yds of any other DK weight yarn with a matching gauge.
The estimated MC yardage includes 10% extra.

• CC: ca. 60 (60, 70, 80, 85) (100, 105, 115, 120) g or 2 (2, 2, 2, 2) (2, 3, 3, 3) skeins of the same yarn, shown in colourway C582;

or ca. 150 (150, 175, 200, 213) 
(250, 263, 288, 300) m // 164 (164, 191, 219, 232) 
(274, 287, 315, 328) yds of any other DK weight yarn 
with a matching gauge.

Needles and notions

• 3.0 mm (US 2.5) and 
3.5 mm (US 4) circular needles;
• 2.5 mm (US 1.5) circular needle 
(used only for picking up sts for the neck ribbing);
• 3.5 mm (US 4) double pointed needles (DPNS) for for the narrow part at the bottom of the sleeve (optional);
• stitch holders, spare cables, spare circular needles or scrap yarn to keep sts on hold;
• scrap yarn for provisional cast-on;
• a crochet hook for provisional cast-on 
(any size close to your needle size);
• a few stitch markers, one of which is removable;
• a tapestry needle to weave in the ends.

Gauge

• 20 sts & 28 rnds in 10 cm (4 in) on 
3.5 mm (US 4) needles measured over st st and stranded colourwork worked in the round after blocking;
• 21 sts & 36 rnds in 10 cm (4 in) on 3.0 mm (US 2.5) needles measured over 
1x1 ribbing worked in the round after blocking (unstretched).

Adjust the needle sizes 
if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.