Pattern: R&R Hoodie by me! incorporating a truncated version of the Dither sock pattern by General Hogbuffer and 100% inspired/copycat of this gorgeous version by Undone57 - you'll want to check out her Ravelry projects page, it's full of inspiring knits!
Yarn: TFA Green Label Aran Weight yarn in Lemongrass, Sand, Natural and Seabreeze.
Ravelry project page here.
Ok, I'm crazy about this sweater, but can we just take a second to admire that glorious toddler belly!? I love it! You might think you've seen this sweater before, and that's because I featured it's inspiration on a TFA Tuesday post last spring. I promised that I was going to knit one just like it for Rowan, and I did just that. I knit this hoodie for Rowan this summer and now that fall has arrived he's getting ample opportunity to wear it. Rowan is currently 17.5 months old and he's wearing the size 18-24 months - It fits well, though a little on the big side, so hopefully he'll get a lot of use out of it well into the winter and maybe even into next spring.
Adapting the pattern to use the stranded colourwork chart from Dither wasn't difficult, but did require a bit of math to figure out exactly how truncated to make it for the size I was knitting. I knit the first sleeves a few times before I was happy with the chart, but it was well worth the experimenting as the positioning of the patterning in the end result is exactly what I was aiming for. Dither is designed to be worked in the round, and R&R is knit flat, so there were lots of extra ends to weave in as many of the rows are singles (when working in the round this doesn't matter, but when working flat you have to cut the yarn and bring it back to the other side to start knitting again - sounds complicated because I'm not explaining it well, but all it really means is more ends to weave in.)
What I really love about this little sweater is it just goes to show how versatile knitting patterns can be. A plain stockinette sweater like the original R&R Hoodie can be so easily modified and turned into something completely different. When you've got a great basic pattern to start with there is no end to potential for customization. I hope you all take a second to look at your favourite knitting patterns and see how you could modify them to be even more you. Adding stripes, colourwork motifs, the sky is the limit!