Karen by Eri Shimizu

I have long been an admirer (and knitter) of Eri’s patterns – she has an incredible eye for detail, and her designs are superbly wearable and comfortable. When she agreed to design a sweater in Miss La Motte Yarn… well, I was over the moon! Thank you so much Eri - for your care in noting my favourite stitches and elements, and for doing me the great honour of naming the sweater 'karen'.

Karen – which means lovely, pretty in Japanese - is a circular yoke sweater worked from the top down. There are two sleeve options to choose from – a simple sleeve, or my favourite – the Flora sleeve. The Flora sleeve requires no cable needle – all stitches are worked in ‘twists’ and ‘slips’ making this seemingly complex design very enjoyable. The pattern for Karen can be found here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/karen-15

I have curated a few colours which I think is in keeping with our original ideas of a wearable sweater with a hint of rustic about it. The pattern uses merino-linen singles which provide an interesting yet super soft textural feel; and the speckles are just delicate enough not to interfere with the textural stitches.

Modelled sweater picture reproduced with kind permission of Eri Shimizu; photo credits and copyright: Eri Shimizu. Modelled sample is shown in colour Rustic Linen.