The bird of paradise (aka as strelitzia) is a common flower in Brazil and it blossoms everywhere all year round. I observed how the bright orange of the petals mixes well with the intense blue at the base of the flower and thought that it could be well translated into knitting.
This cardigan has wide side gussets on the body that provide an accentuated A-line shape from the lower edge towards underarm. To depict the flower in isolated motifs distributed over the garment, I used Armenian knitting. Sleeves are horizontally cast-on at underarm and worked jointly with the body in one single piece. I borrowed this idea from the book Armenian Knitting, by Meg Swansen and Joyce Williams.