Last spring, when I was consumed by crocheted flowers, four-year-old Ella looked at me soulfully and said, “Mama, when you’re done with your book, would you knit me a pink and purple sweater?”
How could I resist such sweetness, not to mention the big brown eyes? Well, I couldn’t.
We ordered Knit Picks’ Merino Style. The pink, called “Petal,” is just lovely. Here it is, down to the back armhole shaping. The stitch is “Wheat Ear Rib,” one of my favorites from Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns. I spaced the ribs out a little further than she did.
My strategy is to knit from the shoulders down, so I can lengthen the sleeves and hem if necessary. Ella is a tall, tall girl. She’s wearing clothes that Eva wore when she was seven and eight years old. Anyway, the ribs will go straight down from the shoulder to just under the armhole. Then I will increase between the ribs, so the rest of the sweater flares out. It will look like this.
Angel count: two done, five to go.
