FO: Weir, a free knitting pattern by Amy Christoffers

First project finished of 2020! So what if I started it in August 2019? Details. This is the Weir pattern, a free knitting pattern, designed by Amy Christoffers for Berroco. I knit it in Berroco Arno, and it’s so dreamy.

This is the perfect basic sweater knitting pattern—straightforward and easy to knit with just a little bit of technique building. So of course I had to go and change it all around. Instead of knitting the body flat and then seaming it, I knit the body in the round after working the ribbed sections of the hem. Instead of picking up the stitches to work the sleeves, I cast on for the ribbing and knit them flat. I blocked the sleeves and the body separately, then sewed them into the armholes.

I did this partly for portability reasons—it’s a lot easier to carry around a sleeve than an entire sweater with a sleeve hanging off it—and partly because I just don’t like having the whole body of a sweater hanging from my sleeve when I’m knitting it. Also, I don’t entirely understand the fear of seaming. It doesn’t take that long and it adds a lot of stability. But that’s just me! You do you!

I’m a big fan of Amy Christoffers’ patterns (you can see some of the others I’ve knit in this tag). They’re all effortlessly wearable and very clearly written, and I have quite a few more in my queue—I just need more time to knit them (which is a problem for all of us, is it not?). She has a number of patterns under her Savory Knitting brand (Raverly link) and you can also find many more free knitting patterns (along with paid) in her work as the Berroco Design Director.

As I said before, this yarn is really dreamy. Berroco Arno is a blend of wool and cotton, but it’s not a plied yarn like you might expect. Instead it’s more of a cage yarn, but the cage (made of cotton) is very small and tightly woven, then filled in with wool. The result is a super smooth yarn that has subtle depths of colors—I absolutely adore the Sangria color I used for this sweater, but there are a number of colors that are absolutely stunning, including the gorgeous green that’s shown in the pattern photos.

I’m super happy to have this one off the needles and on my body! It’s a great little sweater that will get me through much of the year.

Pattern: Weir (find the free knitting pattern on Ravelry or Berroco.com)
Yarn: Berroco Arno in Sangria
Size made: 52″
Sizes available: 36–60″
Yardage/meterage used: 1495 yds/1367 m
Date Began: August 2019
Date Completed: January 3, 2020
Check out my Ravelry project page!