For Sizes:
(31, 34, 37, 40, 43, 46, 49, 52, 55)“ finished bust
Yardage Required:
(880, 990, 1090, 1200, 1290, 1400, 1500, 1590, 1680) yards of Illimani Baby Lllama

The Asclepias (Milkweed) plant is the favourite summer time habitat of the Monarch butterflies. At the end of the summer, the seed pods crack open and a soft white fluff emerges. I always associate fall, here at home, with this beautiful floss drifting around in the late autumn sun. The soft lines and luminous halo of this sweater are reminiscent of this time of year and as a result, Monarch llama was the first name that came to mind. Asclepias has been scarce in recent years, but I’ve seen a lot of it this summer along the Grand River - and to make things better, a Monarch butterfly took up residence in my garden just as I was writing this pattern!

This sweater is a pullover knit from the bottom-up, in 2 pieces at first, starting with the front and back bottom hems. Front and back are then over-lapped and joined to form the side-plackets, and the rest of the body is knit in the round up to the armholes. At the armholes, the front and back are again divided and worked separately. The back neck hem is folded and finished with a 3 needle bindoff and the front and back shoulders are sewn together. The armholes are then picked up and knit down to the cuff, in the round. The cuff is folded in to create a hem, and bound-off. The buttons are decorative and sewn onto each shoulder to hold down the back-neck hem as it overlaps the front shoulder.

Skills Required:
Provisional cast-on, working in the round, simple cables, short-rows, 3-needle bind off, crochet Slip-stitch, mattress stitch