Some years ago I designed a hat (Trees and Diamonds) based on my experiments playing with a stranded knit diamond with 9 stitches on each side. This started as an informal knitalong which was a lot of fun. The hat turned out to be my first paid pattern after some encouragement from Amy Singer of Knitty, who took the time, unasked, to look at it after a twitter discussion. I have used the motifs from this experiment as the basis for the patterns on this jumper.

The jumper is a straightforward drop shoulder style, with minimal shaping. There are steeks at the front neck and armscyes to allow almost the entire garment to be knitted in the round.
The body is knitted from the bottom up, starting with a corrugated rib with a contrasting colour, followed by a band of diamonds around the hem. The main body of the jumper is knitted in lice stitch pattern, which makes a thick, warm fabric but at the same time is economical with yarn as every other row is knitted plain. The diamond pattern is repeated slightly differently on the yoke, followed by a nice row of trees, based on a traditional Tree of Life design. After some short row shaping for the shoulders, the front and back are joined with three-needle bind-off. The sleeves are picked up and knitted downwards. A funnel neck collar completes the garment.

There are several possible diamond patterns that you can use, or you can invent your own. You can use one pattern throughout, or several, or use them all, as I have done.

The Tree of Life is found in various forms in many different cultures and traditions. This simple motif is often found in traditional Scottish knitting, in colourwork, lace or knit and purl motifs. I used a knit and purl version in Graeme’s Gansey. One day I might design something with a lace version.

The jumper is named Tony’s Jumper because I knitted it for Tony. There is some family that you are stuck with because they are related to you, and then there is some family that you choose. Tony is the latter kind.

Sizing
The pattern is described in thirteen sizes, to fit men’s chest sizes 79 to 160 cm 31 to 63 inches.

Yarn
Kate Davies Designs Schiehallion yarn in colourways Eileen, Crowdie and Alto. 100% UK sourced and manufactured wool: 70% Corriedale, 30% Cheviot. DK weight, 110 m/120 yards per 50g skein. Eileen is used for the background colour, Crowdie is used for the pattern and Alto provides the contrasting edging.
Estimated yarn requirements:
Colour A (Eileen) 7(8, 9, 9, 10) {11, 12, 13, 14} 14, 15, 16, 17 skeins.
Colour B (Crowdie) 3(3, 4, 4, 4) {4, 5, 5, 5} 6, 6, 6, 7 skeins.
Colour C (Alto) 1(1, 1, 1, 2) {2, 2, 2, 2} 2, 2, 2, 2 skeins.
And in metres and yards:
Colour A: 747(815, 885, 990, 1081) {1153, 1251, 1347, 1433} 1523, 1614, 1673, 1800 metres, 815(889, 965, 1080, 1179) {1258, 1365, 1469, 1563} 1662, 1761, 1825, 1963 yds.
Colour B: 280(306, 332, 372, 406) {433, 470, 506, 538} 572, 606, 628, 676 metres, 306334, 362, 406, 443 {473, 513, 552, 587} 624, 661, 685, 737 yds.
Colour C: 94(100, 104, 110, 115) {120, 124, 130, 133} 140, 146, 150, 156 metres, 103(110, 113, 120, 125) {131, 136, 142, 146} 153, 159, 163, 170 yds.
For yarn substitution, you can use any DK yarn that gives gauge and is suitable for stranded colourwork and steeking. For working stranded colourwork a sticky yarn is best. Avoid superwash yarn because this can be difficult to manage on a steek as it is slippier than non-superwash and more likely to come undone.
Schiehallion yarn is lovely and soft and can be worn next to the skin by most people. It is however not a particularly sticky yarn, so you will have to reinforce your steeks if you use this.