Isidro was a slow burning project for me. I had never tried Silky Tweed before but I was very curious. I loved the feel of knitting with it when I got it in my hands; it’s got a dry crisp feel but still flows smoothly enough to be enjoyable to knit with.
When I swatched the clustered star stitch it looked just perfect in this yarn and soon the sweater idea grew up around the stitch!
This became my travel sweater last summer. My swatch and design notebook travelled with me to Ohio for the initial design stage and then by the time we went to Costa Rica I was ready to start knitting the textured stitch. This sweater went up and down over mountains, sat in many airports as well as in my sister-in-laws garden :-)
In fact Isidro was finished before we left Costa Rica so the modelled shots were done with a family friend who was knock dead gorgeous! Now every time I look at the photos I feel a little nostalgic for the magic of last summer. Even though the editing and testing stage was finished last autumn it felt like such a spring/summer sweater that I decided to wait until the right season to release it.
Now lets take a look at Isidro’s construction. It starts in the round at the bottom, working a wide folded hem. From here you work the body up to the armholes with waist shaping within the side panels.
Once you reach the underarms the body is divided into front and back, with each knit separately. The sleeve stitches are cast on and you work each side of the upper body together with the sleeves. Short rows are used to shape both the sleeves and the shoulders. Finally there is a shallow curved neckline (not quite as wide as a boatneck) that is finished with an I-cord bind-off.
The sweater as work has around 1” of positive ease but it would also look great a little more oversized. If you want to change the waist shaping (move it up/down or even remove it) you can do so easily as it all happens along the sides.
I hope you enjoy knitting your version as much as I did, and that it will also hold lots of happy memories for you.