Project Notes:

So far, this is such a great tutorial! I will definitely use it for future sweaters. Also SUPER happy with the WATG yarn. It’s now one of my new favorites due to the fact that it’s a pretty heavy weight mohair which is unique. And the colors are great!

02.23.18
Received yarn and cast on. Doing a crewneck with slight shaping in front for fit. I want this sweater to be quite oversized.

04.01.18
Finished! Was undecided about how to do the shaping at the end of the sleeves for a while. The sleeves were really wide, so I just decreased right before binding off to get a nice balloon shape. I’m happy with how they look! The collar is ribbed and doubled over as I wanted a thicker-looking neckline. I used pink on the inside because I was afraid of running out of red.

****UPDATE****
I got a repost from WATG on their IG of this sweater. I got tons of questions about the pattern. I decided to post my instructions for this. As a reminder, it’s based on the Improv tutorial, this is just my take/design of it.

PATTERN FOR LAUREN BREITBARTH’S VERSION OF THE IMPROV SWEATER:

Materials:
US 11 needles, or size to obtain gauge
US 9 needles, or two sizes smaller than larger needle
Stitch makers
Stitch holder or scrap yarn
6 Skeins of Wool and the Gang’s Take Care Mohair

Gauge: 12sts/4”

As a note, I knit 14 rows per color, with the bottom stripe falling just short of that due to my length preferences. Obviously you can tailor this as you want, but this way the color change occurs in tandem with the sleeve separation.

BODY:
Using US 11, CO 34
Work back and forth

Row 1: (WS) Purl 2, place marker, p6, pm, p18, pm, p6, pm, p2
Row 2: (RS) Knit 1, m1, k1, slm, k1, m1, k4, m1, k1, slm, k1, m1. Continue in this fashion making 1 stitch, 1 st before marker and making 1 stitch, 1 st after marker to the end of the row.
Row 3: (WS) purl
Row 4: (RS) K1, m1, knit to 1 stitch before marker, m1, k1, slm, k1, m1. Continue in this fashion making 1 stitch, 1 st before marker and making 1 stitch, 1 st after marker. Knit until 1 st remaining, m1, k1.

Repeat rows 3 & 4 continuing to increase near markers and at each front edge.

Work this way until each front section has 9 (18 total) stitches and back section has 26 sts. CO 8 sts at end of row. Join in the round.

Continue working the same increases every other row on either sides of the stitch markers. Do not increase at front any longer.

Row 15: BEGIN 2ND COLOR PARTWAY THROUGH THIS ROW AT THE LEFT ARMHOLE ON THE BACKSIDE. Place a marker here. Going forward, this will now be the place where you will change colors. This is to better disguise the color change jog- we don’t want that jog showing up on the front of your beautiful sweater!!

Work until front and back sections each have 58 stitches. End with increase round.

Next row: Knitting, place sleeve stitches on stitch holder or scrap yarn as you encounter them, simultaneously casting on 6 stitches at each underarm (12 stitches new stitches in total).

Continue knitting the body in the round (128 stitches total) to desired length. Bind off.

SLEEVES:
With US 11 needles, begin to knit stitches off of stitch holder and onto needles. At the underarm, pick up 6 stitches from body with working yarn and continue working around sleeve (54 stitches in total, 48 from holder + 6 at underarm)
Work in stockinette in the round until desired length. For my sweater, I added an extra stripe than the body had as I made mine more cropped.
Next row: K2tog repeat to end
Next row: k2tog, k1 repeat to end
Bind off in preferred stretchy bind off.

COLLAR:
With US 9 needles, pick up even amount of stitches around neck.
Work in 1x1 ribbing until double the width of desired neckband is reached. (We are going to fold it in half.)
Fold over and stitch live stitches down to inside of neckband using a whipstitch. Take care to not pull too tight or too loose. Ensure you are inserting the tapestry needle consistently into the same spots of the stitches for an even look.