This sweater is inspired by a scarf/hat combo I saw one winter evening on the Red Line of the Chicago El a few decades ago. A young man was wearing a charcoal scarf and hat with small, alternating red and blue motifs – I was enamored! It was classic and modern and colorful and conservative all at the same. Upon further research I found out that this type of patterning is traditional in the Halland region of Sweden, so I named the pattern Halmstad after the capital of that region.

The construction for this sweater is completely unique and untraditional. The sleeves and the body are knit in the round all at the same time, separated by steeks. At the yoke, the underarms are cast off and the yoke is worked without steeks. After the sweater is knitted it resembles a large poncho. The steeks are then cut, and the sweater is seamed along the side and sleeves. This method has several advantages: 1) all the stripes match up, every time 2) there are very few ends to weave in (even with all the color changes) 3) there is no need for double points/magic loop or any other form of small circumference knitting.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest: 37.75(41.75, 46.25, 50.25, 54.25, 58.25, 62.25, 66.25)in
96(106, 117.5, 127.5, 138, 148, 158, 168.5) cm

Length: 26(27.5, 29.5, 31, 31, 32.5, 32.5, 34)in
66(70, 75, 78.5, 78.5, 82.5, 82.5, 86.5) cm

YARN
Briggs and Little Sport - 100% wool; 430yds/113g skein
MC - Medium Grey; 2(3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5)skeins
CC1 - Red; 1(1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2) skeins
CC2 - Royal Blue; 1(1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2) skeins

model: Marc McCray